*Helen Barrington reported this story. Craig Carper contributed reporting.
As Virginians go to the polls, candidates running for one of Virginia’s U.S. Senate seats are making their case to voters. In this race, Republican Daniel Gade is challenging two- term Democrat Mark Warner.
Warner held a recent Facebook Town Hall on gun violence. He says his efforts in Congress are modeled after laws passed in Virginia.
“I support all of the legislation that was passed by the General Assembly. As a matter of fact, Tim Kaine and I have taken that legislation and introduced it as the ‘Virginia Plan.’ It didn’t go as far, as frankly, I’d like.”
This legislation includes removing guns from those at risk of harming themselves or others, closing background check loopholes, preventing children from accessing guns and limiting purchases to one gun a month.
Gade is no stranger to gun violence. The war veteran lost lost his leg while serving in Iraq. He says Virginia Democrats are responsible for not supporting increased penalties for breaking gun laws.
“It’s just absolutely amazing to me that you would, at the same time say, ‘we have a firearms crisis’ and on the other hand say, ‘oh but we don’t want the laws to have teeth.’”
In the most recent Christopher Newport University poll, conducted earlier this month, Warner had a 13-point lead over Gade. The poll had a margin of error of 3.3 percent.
