Following the weekend shooting of an Arizona congresswoman, Virginia Del. Patrick Hope, D-Arlington, is introducing a bill that would ban firearms in Virginia's Capitol and General Assembly Building.

“There's nothing offensive or unconstitutional about asking individuals not to bring firearms into the [General Assembly Building] or the Capitol,” Hope said. “You can't walk through an airport with a gun, you can't enter the U.S. Capitol or federal courthouses with a gun.  Why should the Virginia Capitol and the GAB be any different?”

The 2011 General Assembly Session gets under way on Wednesday.