RICHMOND, Va. _ Four days after a gunman opened fire at a Virginia Beach Municipal Center and killed 12 people, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam said he wants to bring lawmakers together in an official capacity to address gun violence.
Surrounded by members of the state Democratic Party, Northam called for a special session Tuesday, saying he hoped to find a compromise with Republicans _ who hold a narrow majority in both houses and traditionally have blocked moves by Democrats to tighten gun laws _ to pass "common-sense safety laws."
"We must do more than give our thoughts and prayers," he said to a room of gun-control advocates and reporters in Richmond. "We must give Virginians the action they deserve."
He also was joined by Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring. It was the first time the three top Democrats had been seen standing side by side since a trio of national scandals rocked the administration in February.
Democrats in Virginia _ nearly 20 of whom joined Northam Tuesday _ have tried unsuccessfully for years to pass tighter gun laws. All 140 lawmakers face a challenge in this November's elections.
In a statement Tuesday, Speaker of the House Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, called Northam's special session hasty and suspect.
Cox said under his leadership, the special session will focus on ways to be tougher on criminals. One way he'd like to do that is by requiring mandatory minimum sentences. Northam has vowed not to sign any more such bills, saying they unfairly hurt people of color.
"The governor's call to special session is more likely to inflame political tensions than produce substantive public policy changes that will keep people safe," Cox said.
He said he also wants to focus on laws that improve the state's behavioral and mental health system. After the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, Cox convened a committee to address school safety, but said the committee wouldn't focus on guns.
Northam said he wants to see laws passed that are similar to a legislative package he proposed in January. He called for reinstating the one-handgun-a-month law _ repealed in 2012 _ and allowing prosecutors or police officers to ask the court to issue an emergency substantial risk order to stop someone who poses a risk of injury to themselves or others from purchasing, possessing or transporting a gun.
He also called for universal background checks, requiring lost or stolen handguns to be reported within 24 hours, and banning the sale, purchase, possession and transport of assault firearms.
Most of those bills _ carried by Democrats _ failed this year, as they traditionally have under a Republican-controlled General Assembly.
"None of these ideas are radical," Northam said, adding they don't stop anyone from getting a gun.
Northam _ who was joined by lawmakers from both parties at press conferences in Virginia Beach immediately following the shooting _ said he didn't speak to the Virginia Beach Republican senators and delegates about his plans for a special session or proposed legislation last weekend.
The governor can call a special session at any time, but state lawmakers can gavel in and end the session immediately if they want.
This is the third special session of Northam's term _ legislators convened last year after they couldn't agree on a budget in the regular session, and then again in the fall when Northam asked them to figure out new legislative district lines.
The session is tentatively scheduled for sometime in late June.
