McLEAN, Va. – Thousands of openly armed people could be headed to the state Capitol next Monday to lobby and rally against proposed gun control regulations and for their Second Amendment rights.
Gun rights advocates organizing the event have promised a “peaceful day to address our Legislature,” but their efforts have sparked a much larger, grassroots movement that has drawn interest from gun owners and militias around the country.
Meanwhile, late Tuesday, The Associated Press and The Washington Post reported that Gov. Ralph Northam plans to declare an emergency and ban all guns around the Capitol on Monday, citing fears of violence similar to the deadly white nationalist in Charlottesville rally in 2017. Northam’s office would not confirm the reports but said the governor would hold a news conference later Wednesday.
Philip Van Cleave, who is organizing the Richmond rally as president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said the event was still on and that his group would weigh how it will respond to Northam’s ban depending on the specifics.
“Hell no he’s not going to stop it with that little act,” Van Cleave told USA TODAY, adding that his group may pursue legal action.
Driving the momentum is opposition to a host of gun control proposals from Northam and Democrats, who in November won full control of the state’s government for the first time since 1993.
“The governor and leadership in the Democratic Party have declared war on law-abiding gun owners and they’re tired of it,” Van Cleave said. “It’s basically people saying we’re fed up. We’ve had enough.
“The governor has touched the third rail. He has motivated people to drive across the state and from other states to come protect our rights.”
Van Cleave, whose group is organizing the lobby day and rally, has promised upward of 100,000 armed gun owners in Richmond in hopes to dissuade enough Democrats to scrap or weaken the proposals.
“Guns save lives,” “we will not comply” and messages against “tyrants” in government coming to take their guns have been seen on stickers and posters in local meetings around the state and shared across pro-gun websites and social media urging people to travel to Virginia to support the effort.
To rally support, Van Cleave’s group has issued fiery warnings of what could happen to gun owners should the measures pass.
“All these bills are basically steps in the direction of disarming people,” he said.
Northam, however, has worked to dispel rumors that he intends to go “door-to-door” with authorities to take away people’s guns.
“We have no intention calling out the National Guard. We’re not going to cut off people’s electricity. We’re not going to go door-to-door and confiscate individual’s weapons,” Northam said Jan. 7 alongside Democratic lawmakers.
“We are going to pass common-sense legislation that will keep guns out of dangerous hands and keep Virginia safer. It is just that simple.”
Among the proposals: Limiting one handgun purchase per month, universal background checks on gun sales, allowing localities to ban guns in some public areas, and a “red flag” bill that would allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from anyone deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others.
Those measures were advanced by Democrats in the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. Others include rules around reporting lost or stolen firearms and a ban on “assault firearms,” though some moderate Democrats have recently expressed concerns over that bill.
Compared to other states, what Virginia Democrats are proposing is no more extreme than many other state’s gun control measures, says Ernest McGowen, a political science professor at University of Richmond.
“When you really drill down into it, it’s definitively a swing to the left but not one of those things where Northam is saying, ‘Take away everyone’s guns,'” he said.
Similar proposals have not been struck down as unconstitutional in other states for violating the Second Amendment, but any legal battle that ensues could have ramifications for other states depending on a court’s opinion, McGowen said.
“Virginia is the canary in the coal mine,” Van Cleave said of the gun control measures. Out-of-state groups and militias may be attending the Richmond event because “they’re looking down the road. If Virginia gets hit with this stuff, they’re going to be next,” he said.
While he said Virginia Citizens Defense League has been in contact with local police, militia groups from Virginia and out of state “volunteered to provide security … not to mention enough citizens armed with handguns to take over a modern mid-sized country,” the group said in a recent publication.
Joe Macenka, a spokesperson for the Division of Capitol Police, said authorities are preparing for a larger than usual lobby day this year and will rely on law enforcement partners around the state as necessary.
“We want people to have safe environment to have their voices heard,” he said. “If you’re trying to lobby for legislative change, it behooves you to have a positive environment on Capitol Square.”
Last Friday, a special rules committee in the General Assembly voted to ban guns from the Capitol and a legislative office building.
Van Cleave said the event is different from other events that have drawn out-of-state rally goers, like the “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally that turned violent as a neo-Nazi killed Heather Heyer and injured others when he rammed his car in a crowd.
“Charlottesville was a protest. We’re lobbying,” Van Cleave said. However, some of the out-of-state militias planning to send members to Richmond have been identified as extremist groups.
Macenka said Capitol Police have not heard much from out-of-state groups but dismissed the comparison between the lobby day and Charlottesville attack. “Charlottesville didn’t seem to have any purpose. People seemed to come together bent on committing violence,” Macenka said. “There is some very serious legislation at issue here.”
Since the November election, more than 100 counties, cities and towns across the state have declared themselves “sanctuaries” for the Second Amendment, saying they will not enforce unconstitutional laws.
While the resolutions are largely symbolic in their effect, legal experts have said, many local sheriffs have come out in support of them. In some counties, thousands of people have swarmed boards of supervisors meetings in support of the measures.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said last month, though, that the resolutions have “no legal force” as localities “cannot nullify state laws.”
“They’re just part of an effort by the gun lobby to stoke fear,” he said in a statement.
Groups supporting the measures backed by Democrats say the election in November shows that voters in the state approve of the proposals. Among both Democrats and Republicans, gun laws were the most important voting issues before the election, according to a Washington Post-George Mason poll.
“Virginians made their voices heard in November when they voted overwhelmingly for candidates who ran on promises to pass common-sense gun safety laws,” said Michelle Sandler, a volunteer with Virginia Moms Demand Action. “The extremist armed militias heading to Richmond next Monday are not representative of the majority of Virginians.”
While Virginia turned blue in the election, Democratic voters generally are not as far left as others in the party nationwide, University of Richmond’s McGowen said. The challenge that Democratic lawmakers and Northam will face is striking a balance of gun control measures that their entire base supports, McGowen said.
“Just because they voted for Northam doesn’t mean they are necessarily for every part of his agenda,” McGowen said.
Still, if Democrats do push forward with the gun proposals as they currently stand, Van Cleave believes his group’s supporters will be able to rally support to flip the state Legislature again in two years.
“Look, they’ve woken up a base that’s been sleeping. … Purple areas will turn bright red,” he said. “They’re going to pay for this at the polls.”
Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow USA TODAY’s Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/15/virginia-gun-laws-northam-may-ban-guns-richmond-rally/4431532002/
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