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Virginia Senate advances 2 proposed gun control measures

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Senate has advanced two pieces of Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed gun-control measures after previously rejecting them.

The Senate voted Wednesday to advance legislation that would require gun owners to report to police any lost or stolen firearms and to toughen the penalty for leaving a loaded, unsecured firearm in a reckless manner that endangers a child.

Northam’s office agreed to water down both measures in order to to win support of some Democrats who rejected earlier versions.

Lawmakers are set to give final passage in coming days to seven out of eight gun-control bills backed by Northam.

School bus emergency? Fairfax County students have a plan to handle it

This story is part of WTOP’s 2026 Back to School coverage. The wheels on the bus will soon be going round and round again in Fairfax County, Virginia, and some of its young riders are learning what to do if there’s an emergency on the way to school. The annual Safety Patrol Training Camp, hosted by Fairfax County Public Schools' Office of Transportation Services, combined hands-on exercises with classroom lessons to teach students how to keep calm during emergencies on buses. The training can feel remarkably realistic, with overturned school buses on their side or completely upside down in the middle of the county bus depot. Other buses, right side up, fill with smoke that is water-based but mimics the intensity of a bus overheating.
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