Virginia House advances wide slate of bills; contentious debate centers on firearms liability, contraception access and tribal eligibility for flood-prepared‑-n

RICHMOND — The Virginia House of Delegates on Jan. 22, 2025 passed a large package of bills during a busy floor session, with the chamber resolving many measures on voice votes and unanimous consent and spending more time on three contested items: a civil-liability measure aimed at the firearms industry (HB 1608), a bill to codify protection for contraception access (HB 17 16), and legislation to expand eligibility for the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund to include federally and state-recognized tribes (HB 2077).

The House completed its printed calendar and advanced dozens of bills to third reading or passed them on final passage; the clerk and delegates recorded many bills as "engrossed and passed" by voice vote or unanimous assent. Several measures drew extended floor remarks and partisan debate before moving along.

The most substantive floor exchanges included:

Firearms industry liability (HB 1608) Delegate Elliot Helmer (Delegate, Fairfax), the bill’s sponsor on the floor, said the measure establishes a civil mechanism to hold firearms industry actors accountable for “unlawful or reckless conduct.” He described the measure as placing firearms manufacturers “in the same posture as anybody else who sells a tool or product in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Opponents on the floor, including Delegate Griffin (Delegate, Bedford), argued the bill could expose manufacturers to broad private litigation even where corporate intent is not shown. Griffin said the bill is "to target gun manufacturers and make them civilly liable for things that they didn't do when somebody else…