Virginia bill calls for background checks for renting guns at ranges

The Virginia State Capitol is pictured on April 16, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. ReOpen Virginia, End The Lockdown VA and Virginians Against Excessive Quarantine gathered to protest continuing COVID-19 Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's Stay at Home order. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)(Getty Images/Zach Gibson)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers are being asked to approve a bill that would require a state background check for anyone who wants to rent a gun at a shooting range.

The legislation proposed by Sen. Creigh Deeds comes after the suicides of two young men at the Green Top Shooting Range in Hanover last July. Both men had struggled with mental health issues.

Currently, neither federal nor state law requires background checks for gun rentals at shooting ranges.

The legislation is one of about a half-dozen gun-control bills now making their way through the Virginia General Assembly.

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