VA Legislators Want Firearm Use Prohibited In Part Of Loudoun County

Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Virginia Democrats who represent Loudoun County in the general assembly wrote a letter to the county’s board of supervisors urging members to prohibit the discharge of weapons in developed areas after concerns from residents.

People living in the Willowsford neighborhood in Aldie filed reports with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office May 6th after rounds fired from a backyard firing range struck their homes.

“We were very concerned. Certainly the way I heard it was, you know, an individual in the home could have been hurt,” said Sen. Barbara Favola.

The sheriff’s office is investigating but doesn’t believe the people were breaking the law. This kind of firearms use is allowed in the Transition Policy Area, a section of the county with low-density residential development that stretches from south of Leesburg to the Prince William County border.

Favola said when they found out about the shootings, she, Sen. Jennifer Wexton and Delegates Jennifer Boysko, John Bell, Karrie Delaney, Wendy Gooditis, Kathleen Murphy and David Reid wrote to the board asking members to take immediate action to prohibit the discharge of weapons in developed areas.

“This area is developing. We can’t have, you know, sort of, recreational firearms use so close to homes where there could potentially be an injury,” Favola said.

Local laws already prohibit the discharge of firearms in the more heavily populated Suburban Policy Area, which includes most of eastern Loudoun.

Supervisor Tony Buffington Junior who represents the section of the Transition Policy area where the shootings took place did not respond to WMAL’s requests for an interview.