Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on Tuesday ordered a special legislative session on gun violence four days after a public works employee killed 12 people during a shootout in a Virginia Beach municipal building.

"The nation is watching," Northam said at a new conference. "We must do more than give our thoughts and prayers, we must give the Virginians the action they deserve."

Northam said that he would look for universal background checks, prohibition of assault weapons and repressors, extreme risk protection orders, prevention of children's access. and other restrictions.

"It's not true that we now see these mass shots as the new standard," said Northam. "It's time to change."

Northam said he had previously asked the legislature a number of stricter restrictions on firearms. But he said lawmakers repeatedly rejected his demands.

"The tragedy this weekend (…) must instill in us a new urgency to act," he said. "If we can save a life because we have acted now, it is worth it."

Northam, a doctor, rejected claims that it is "too early" after the tragedy to address these issues. The delays, he said, would only cause more deaths. Northam did not immediately reveal the dates of the special session.

"As an army doctor, I was able to see first-hand what a bullet is doing to a body," he said. "And I saw him again this weekend, I can not imagine the devastation of these families."

Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring were among the state leaders who also appeared at the press conference, echoing the call to action of their fellow Democrats. The three leaders have been involved in a controversy in recent months.

In February, a photo of Blackface appeared in the directory book of the Northam School of Medicine. Northam first apologized, then said that he was not in the picture. A few days later, Fairfax was charged with sexual assault, which he categorically denies, following a meeting in 2004. This drew appeals for his ouster. Then, Herring admitted to having also donned the Blackface in the 1980s.

Calls for resignation have subsided in recent weeks and Northam has been a face of the reaction to the Virginia Beach shootings.

The alleged gunman, a civil engineer who worked for the city for 15 years, was shot dead after a confrontation with the police. The shooting, the deadliest of the year in the country, took place on Friday afternoon around 4 pm. when the shooter fired on the first casualty outside Building 2, a three-story brick structure with approximately 400 municipal employees.

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Police said the shooter had attached a fire extinguisher, also called a silencer, to the .45 caliber handgun that he had fired on three floors of the building where he was working. Virginia is among the 42 states that allow residents to buy and own suppressors, although some cities – including Virginia Beach – prohibit them.

The authorities stated that the alleged gunman had recently purchased several firearms, but they did not specify how he had had a suppressor.

Northam went to Virginia Beach a few hours after the shooting, comforting the survivors and helping coordinate the reaction to the shooting. He also spoke with President Trump and lobbied at a press conference last week in favor of enhanced gun control.

Contributor: Brad Zinn and Kristin Lam, United States Today

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