Virginia Government Simulation (VGS), was at Virginia Commonwealth University and House of Delegates. It provided college students the opportunity to participate in a simulation of being a Delegate for the State of Virginia. 

Established in 2024, from October 3rd to 5th, the VGS took place for the first time. By allowing students to use critical thinking skills and participate in debate, they had transformative experiences. 

As the debate continued, each of the students began to get more invested in their roles. Democrat Delegate Riley Johnson, Radford University, stated, “As the day has gone on, people are getting more involved, especially when it comes to playing the part in their party.” With this excitement, everyone became more involved, and the air within the room began to shift into a wave of excitement and tension. 

This shift occurred during House Bill 318: Virginia Firearm Industry Standards of Responsible Conduct, with Democrat Delegate Riley Johnson introducing the bill. This bill allows the local government to sue the seller or manufacturer of that gun for restitution of the injuries that were caused. 

After the summary from Riley Johnson, many hands were raised requesting to speak. Out of the many hands and speakers, some notable mentions included Republican Delegate Aaron Ress, University of Richmond, who was against the bill bringing up how the taxes from these manufacturers funded wildlife conservation, and without them would destroy them. Succeeding Ress, a few more Republican Delegates spoke highly against this bill, claiming it attacked the sellers and manufacturers who are not involved.

Following these claims, Delegate Johnson clarified that it would only target sellers with reasonable knowledge, claiming that if they do the appropriate background checks then there would be no issue, and requested to make an amendment removing the manufacturer from the bill. Immediately, more hands shot up as the Republican and Democrat Delegates were hot on this issue.

Democrat Delegate Connor Mull, Radford University, supported Johnson’s amendment referencing gun shows and having background checks for those specific people. More commotion began to rise within the room, and yet there seemed to be no compromise in sight. 

After some time, Republican Minority Leader Jackson Mallory, Virginia Commonwealth University, requested to push the bill for the next day and was seconded by Democrat Delegate Collin Nicholson (though because this is a simulation this was pushed to after lunch).

This had been the seed to sparking a chain of energy throughout the room, as every bill afterward involved more involvement and discussion. With this increase in energy, more frustrations began to simmer between the delegates as they attempted to irritate each other and draw them away from the bigger picture. 

One attempt that would stop many in their tracks, was orchestrated by Republican Delegate Aaron Ress, as he noticed a tendency with the Democrat Party to forget to address the Majority Leader when speaking. He began to call Point of Order any time he had the opportunity to catch these individuals off guard. 

Controversies over Point of Order and Inquiries were rising during the House of Delegates meeting. Many passionate speakers raised notice of their concerns for certain bills which created an air of excitement and tension within the room. 

One individual who felt affected by Delegate Ress’s comments and grew frustrated during the simulation was Democrat Delegate Jarrett Lilly, Bridgewater College, who felt Ress was very passionate about these rules, but his approach to addressing them was repetitive and could be done in a better way. 

These comments were well planned by the Republican Delegates as they were able to fluster the Democratic side and distract them from the topic at hand. These comments though caused many of the Democrat Delegates to also look closer into the Republican Delegates speeches. 

Even with these frustrations and excitement, things still were wrapped up nicely between the two parties as the simulation came to an end. The simulation seemed to be a huge success and many students showed excitement about doing it again next year.