State
police are already making security plans, aiming to avoid a repeat of the chaos seen in Charlottesville in 2017, when a march by white nationalists erupted in violence that led to the death of a counter-protester.
The legislative bills that Northam's administration is backing include universal background checks on gun sales, a ban on assault-style rifles, and passing "red flag" laws that would allow courts and local law enforcement to remove guns from people deemed a risk to communities.
It is not Northam's first effort at tightening the state's gun laws.