As you might recall through the haze of Trumpian scandal, the Virginia legislature flipped to Democratic control in November. After the election, Democrats pledged to pass a package of gun-control laws — mostly the same agenda Delaware Democrats have punted on — gun-rights advocates are flipping out.
The pledge sparked a grassroots pro-gun movement whose size and intensity has surprised even longtime activists. In dozens of towns and counties, pro-gun Virginians have flooded local government meetings to oppose the new bills and to demand that their lawmakers pass “second amendment sanctuary” resolutions, which promise that local governments will not enforce state gun laws they see as unconstitutional. Some of these activists have warned of violence if Democrats push forward with gun control.
The pro-gun organizing in Virginia has attracted the attention of national anti-government militias and white supremacist groups, who have “glommed on to” the grassroots movement, hoping to use it as a potential flashpoint that could lead to civil war and social breakdown, according to an analyst at the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors extremist groups.
Some observers worry these tensions may come to a head on 20 January, when a lobby day against gun control at Virginia’s state capitol is expected to attract thousands of people, including members of anti-government groups from other states.
This is standard behavior for gun lovers. In Delaware, about 200 of them routinely flood Dover to demonstrate that we have no requirement that gun owners demonstrate any kind of mental fitness before they’re allowed to stockpile deadly weapons. It’s the outside agitators who make the situation dangerous.
I mention this mainly to point out that Democrats in Dover ought to act now, while the national-level nutjobs are busy to our south, to enact bills like a ban on military-style rifles. If they wait until Virginia acts, hundreds of white supremacists with nothing better to do could descend on Legislative Hall, and good luck finding a parking space once that happens.
UPDATE
From today’s Huffington Post:
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) declared a temporary emergency Wednesday banning guns from Capitol Square in Richmond ahead of a rally expected to draw tens of thousands, including far-right extremists, in protest of gun control measures.
“We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies of threats of violence surrounding the demonstration planned for Monday, January 20,” Northam said in a tweet. “This includes extremist rhetoric similar to what has been seen before major incidents, such as Charlottesville in 2017.”
The rally, set to take place Monday, was organized by anti-gun control group Virginia Citizens Defense League, which claimed it expects upward of 130,000 people to attend and is planning to bus people in from across the state.