A bill put forward by Delegate Mark Levine (D) would make it a felony for law-abiding citizens to possess a magazine holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Moreover, Levine’s legislation, HB 961, even makes it a felony to possess 10-round magazines, if such magazines have a “removable plate” on the bottom that would allow capacity expansion.
Levine’s bill provides four options for Virginians who currently possess magazines that hold more than 10 rounds: 1. They can render the magazine “inoperable.” 2. They can “remove” the magazine from Virginia. 3. They can “transfer” the magazine to a person who meets the legal criteria to own one in another state. 4. Surrender the magazine to the state.
Levine’s bill comes even as 118 local governments in Virginia have declared themselves Second Amendment Sanctuaries, vowing not to enforce unconstitutional gun controls.
The Second Amendment Sanctuaries consist of at least 86 counties, plus cities and municipalities around the state.
Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signaled a war on guns in early November 2019, after Democrat won control of the state legislature.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 3 of Chapter 12 of Title 18.2 a section numbered 18.2-511.2, relating to outdoor shooting ranges; prohibited adjacent to residential areas; exceptions; civil penalty.———-Patron– Bell———-Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice———-
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Article 3 of Chapter 12 of Title 18.2 a section numbered 18.2-511.2 as follows:
A. As used in this section, “outdoor shooting range” means any partially enclosed or unenclosed area or facility designed for the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, skeet, trap, black powder, or any other similar sport shooting.
B. It is unlawful to operate an outdoor shooting range within 500 yards of any property zoned for residential use unless the Range Design Criteria developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Health, Safety and Security have been met.
C. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $100,000 for the initial violation and $5,000 per day for each day of violation thereafter.
By stipulating “any partially enclosed or unenclosed area,” they seem to want to outlaw any backyard or woods shooting, regardless of county or town regulations. In other words, your “range” doesn’t have to be a formally designated range open for business. It might be your backyard, as long as you’ve put up a berm or some steel targets.
A Virginia state lawmaker proposed a gun control bill that critics say will create a firearms registry at gun ranges in the commonwealth.
Virginia Democratic Del. Dan Helmer filed a bill Thursday that would prohibit indoor shooting ranges in the state not owned by the commonwealth or the federal government, and it would require those privately owned to maintain the personal information of customers who wish to use the ranges.
Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam previously announced that an assault weapons ban that may be passed in the state could include a grandfather clause of previously owned assault weapons that could be possessed but must be registered with the state, thereby creating a registry.
The National Shooting and Sports Foundation, a trade association for the firearms industry, was alarmed at Helmer’s bill, telling the Washington Examiner the legislation would be “an absolute threat” to small businesses across the commonwealth.
The foundation's Director Of Public Affairs Mark Oliva called the bill a "backdoor registry of every firearms owner and every firearms user" in the state.
"The aim of gun control has always been to control not just the guns, but those who own them. The bills presented in this General Assembly have sought that at least twice. This legislation to ban privately owned indoor ranges seeks to collect and store personal information on law-abiding gun owners and the firearms they own and use," Oliva said.
He also pointed to Northam's statements that he wants registration of firearms that meet what Oliva termed "his expansive definition of a so-called assault firearm."
"That is potentially hundred of thousands, possibly millions, of Virginians who would be put in registration lists and monitored by their government for the simple act of exercising their God-given rights," he said.
According to Oliva, the bill would be the first of its kind to be implemented by a state, if passed.
“This is unprecedented. I’ve never seen anything like this. I believe that people like Michael Bloomberg and states like California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, where you see very strict gun control laws — Illinois among them — I think that they're all looking to see what is going to be happening here in Virginia to see what they could possibly do in their own states,” Oliva told the Washington Examiner. “I think that Virginia has become the bellwether for gun control and the gun rights debate.”
Helmer, an Army veteran who moved to Virginia with his wife and two sons from his native New Jersey in 2013, won his delegate seat in November against eight-term Republican Tim Hugo. He ran on a gun control platform.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Helmer's office on Thursday and asked about the information that ranges would be mandated to collect from customers and later maintain.
"This legislation is a way to keep our community safe from gun violence," Helmer's chief of staff Noah Bardash said. Bardash did not specify how Helmer wants the information to be used or if any co-sponsors had signed on to the bill.
Helmer defended his bill on Twitter on Thursday: “Shooting at the range is fun. But they don’t belong in populated work places & few are located there. Look no further than @NRA HQs in Fairfax, where a worker was wounded in a negligent discharge, to see that office buildings and ranges don’t mix.”
He later tweeted, “This bill would impact few ranges in Virginia. Ranges in #HD40 are responsibly located and will stay open for business. It would impact millions who work in offices in the Commonwealth, ensuring that their buildings don’t suddenly become more dangerous work places.”
The legislation would apply to businesses with more than 50 employees or where less than 90% of its customers are law enforcement. The National Rifle Association, which has more than 50 employees and a headquarters in Fairfax with a firing range, would be among the ranges Helmer’s bill targets.
“Everyone says this was an attack on the NRA's range, and surely it is,” Oliva said. “But this is also an attack on small businesses.”
Oliva pointed to two ranges, a 68-employee range in Manassas and one in Virginia Beach with 60 employees, as examples of small businesses that could be hurt by the measure.
NRA spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen said the move would hurt small businesses, not reduce crime.
“In addition to generating about $18 million each year in revenues, the state’s ranges are the epicenter for vital safety training," she said in a statement. "This is where our law enforcement community comes to train alongside families and individuals seeking skills for home and self-defense.”
Is this some local white trash? That’s what some of my followers on Twitter assumed when I posted their mugshots. Appearances can be deceiving though.
Let’s start with Rann Bar-On:
Cool story, bro.
It turns out that Rann Bar-On is an Israeli mathematics lecturer at Duke University who has been sponsored on an employment based Green Card. He is also fond of clashing with police officers and getting repeatedly arrested in North Carolina. This is at least the second time since March. In Graham, he ripped a Christian flag off a flag pole and attempted to set it on fire.
We know that Gregory and Rann are the leaders of Raleigh-Durham IWW and both are associated with Duke University where Rann is a mathematics lecturer and Gregory is a graduate student:
“Rann Baron, 36, of 201 N. Driver St., Durham, charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer and misdemeanor injury to personal property. Bond was set at $11,500.
William Anthony Hood, 34, of 145 Kingsbury Drive, Chapel Hill, was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer inflicting serious injury and misdemeanor possession of a weapon at a parade or rally. Bond was set at $15,000.
Gregory Southall Williams, 37, of 904 W. Murray Ave., Durham, was charged with misdemeanor resisting a public officer. Bond was set at $1,500.”
Don’t insult our intelligence by pretending you are not involved with Raleigh-Durham IWW. You are going to their events, attending their meetings and raising your fist with them on Twitter. Own it.
Anastasia Karklina is trying to hide from us by changing her Twitter account and hiding her tweets:
This genius posted videos of herself on Twitter! LMAO.
Oh, and RIP @triangleiww. It is too bad nothing you post on the internet every really goes away. This post was 100% me with a little help from Restoring The Honor, who you foolishly trusted, and our NEETs haven’t even gotten on the case yet. We will expose the rest of you too.
January 13th, 2020, 22:31
vector7
Re: Will America Break Up?
HB 842 Removal of public officers; petition requirements, signature requirements.
Removal of public officers; petition requirements; signature requirements.
Clarifies that the requirement that a petition for the removal of a public officer be signed under penalty of perjury applies only to the person or persons filing such petition with the circuit court. Registered voters signing the petition for purposes of reaching the required number of signatures shall not be required to sign under penalty of perjury.
The bill also increases the required number of signatures to a number of registered voters in the locality equal to 25 percent, up from 10 percent, of the total number of votes cast at the last election for the office, and requires the signatures to be collected within a 60-day period.
FULL TEXT
Our patriot brothers and sisters in Virginia need our boots on the ground, and they need us to stand shoulder to shoulder with them, as they stand against unconstitutional violations of multiple provisions of the Bill of Rights. We need you to help!
THREE CRITICAL ACTION ITEMS
1. Critical Gun Rights And Pro-Constitution Rally On Monday, January 20, 2020:
Virginia gun rights groups and patriots, led by Virginia Citizens Defense League, are assembling for a massive rally in the state capitol of Richmond, VA on Monday, Jan. 20. Go here for info on the rally. All who can make it are urged to attend to lend our voices in support of the rights of the people of Virginia.
It is critical that we have a strong presence at that rally to show our support for the people of Virginia as they stand up for their rights, and as they work to put pressure on their state legislators to honor their oaths by refusing to vote for any legislation that violates the right to keep and bear arms. See below for details on why this is so critical, and what we can do to help.
2. Oath Keepers Is Sending A Leadership And Training Team To Virginia To Assist In Organizing Resistance To Unconstitutional Acts And To Organize And Train Armed Posses And Militia.
Oath Keepers national leadership and some of our best trainers are on their way to Virginia to work boots on the ground, starting right after New Years Day, to do all we can to assist in organizing, training, and advising local town and county resistance to the unconstitutional and dangers actions of the Governor. We will stay for the duration, until the work is done! Among our trainers are U.S. Army Special Forces veterans and SWAT law enforcement trainers. They will focus on helping Sheriffs raise and train an official armed posse in each county, under command of the Sheriff, and on organizing, training, and equipping official county militia, under the authority of the county government.
In addition, they will form up and train Spartan Training groups in each county, to bring all patriotic Americans together to train in critical skills so they are a pool of well trained volunteers that constitutional sheriffs and patriotic county officials can call on to assist in time of need, and that can serve as posse and/or militia. See below for details.
WE NEED MORE TRAINERS! If you are an experienced military or law enforcement trainer, please step up and volunteer to help. Email us at: oathkeepersok@gmail.com. Put “volunteer military trainer” or “volunteer LEO trainer” in subject line. See below for details.
If you cannot make it in person to volunteer to help organize and train the patriots of Virginia, please donate to support those who can make it.
3. Oath Keepers Will Directly Outreach To The Virginia National Guard, State Police, And All Local Law Enforcement.
We will be directly reaching out to all levels of military and law enforcement in Virginia that the governor may try to use to enforce his unconstitutional tyranny. We will do so through several different outreach methods and missions. See below for more details and info on how you can help.
WHY THIS IS A CRISIS
The Virginia Governor, with the assistance of oath- breaking politicians in the state legislature, is not just violating the Second Amendment. He seeks to violate the First, the Fourth, the Fifth, and the Sixth, though criminalization of free speech and assembly and gun confiscation without due process via horrendous “red flag” legislation, as well as weaponizing the state statute against paramilitary training to ban even training for lawful self defense or defense of others, or assembly and speech while armed. And, of course, seeing to ban entire categories of weapons essential to a well regulated militia, and attempting to criminalize normal, wholesome family shooting activities.
In addition, the Governor has begun to threaten to use the VA National Guard against the people of Virginia, in reaction to sheriffs and county officials declaring their counties to be Second Amendment Sanctuaries and pledging to refuse to comply with the Governor’s edicts and pretend legislation.
We are confident that many within the National Guard and State Police will refuse those orders and will stand down, but we want to maximize that outcome and we want to prepare the people of Virginia for the worst case scenario of attempted use of force by the Governor to carry out his orders.
Oath Keepers is responding to the crisis in Virginia, where the leftists are in a full frontal assault against the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Our response will be multi-pronged, and will NOT be a one day response, but will instead be an ongoing campaign/deployment that will begin right after New Years Day.
OUR PLANNED COURSE OF ACTION
1. Attend The January 20, 2020 Gun Rights Lobby Day.
When: Monday,20 January 2020 @ 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM Location: General Assembly Building — Richmond VA
Go to Virginia Citizens Defense League - VCDL Lobby Day -- Richmond VA for details on the rally. IF you are within driving range and can attend, please do! The goal here will be to maximize the size of the audience at this rally, to help send the message to the VA legislature that the people of Virginia want them to do the right thing and refuse to vote for these attrocious and dangerous bills that violate the rights of the people – and that the people of the United States stand in unity with them.
We urge you to dress like average Americans, not in cammo or full battle rattle. Our purpose is to be force multipliers for the people of Virginia. Oath Keepers shirts, hats, etc are fine, or any other patriotic gear, but please no camouflage or military gear. We want to present as quiet professionals. That is according to the wishes of the event organizers and of the Virginia patriot groups we are already working with, who have the most skin in the game in their home state. Please respect their wishes and help them in their chosen strategy. They also prefer that we go concealed carry for those who will be carrying. And they prefer that there be no long guns at the rally. Again, this is their preference and we owe it to them to abide by that preference. We are there to support and assist them in their political fight to try to keep these bills from being passed in the first place.
2. Oath Keepers Is Deploying A Leadership Team/Training Team In Advance Of The Jan 20 Rally And That Team Will Remain In The Ground In Va After The Rally, For The Duration To Do The Following:
A. Urge All Counties To Follow The Example Of Tazewell County, VA By Passing A Resolution Establishing An Official County Militia.
Tazewell County, VA has already taken the momentous step of passing a resolution to establish an official county militia, under the authority of the duly elected county political leaders. That is historic. A resolution to establish a formal militia in the county is a critical first step. And every other county in VA should follow Tazewell County’s superb example. Oath Keepers will be sending in national leaders to advocate for, and assist, all counties in VA in following Tazewell county’s example.
Oath Keepers Founder, Stewart Rhodes, will be there in person to lead this leadership team and he will put his legal training from Yale Law School to use in assisting in the drafting of any needed resolutions. It is critical that the people of Virginia use their official county governments to organize militia units instead of just organizing private groups. An official county militia would be acting under, and pursuant to, the full authority of the elected government of the county, not just a private “militia”. That is an important distinction, especially considering the clear intent of the anti-gun leftist to weaponize the state statute against paramilitary training to try to shut down any and all training for self defense or the carrying of weapons for self defense When a town or county government stands up, that pits one government entity against another, and puts patriots in a much stronger position.
The Founding Fathers fully utilized their town and county governments when resisting the tyranny of the Crown. We must do the same when resisting the tyranny of the governor and the state legislature. NOTE: this does NOT mean we will not be working with non-official volunteer militia in Virginia. We already are. We just want to maximize the use of county government as a mechanism of organization and authority.
B. Assist In The Raising Up, Organizing, Training, And Equipping Of Official County Militias.
Once a resolution has been passed to establish an official militia in a county, the next step is to actually organize, train, and equip that militia unit or units in each county, comprised of the able bodied men and women of that county (should be considered a duty for the men, but an option for the women who can also serve). To assist in doing this, Oath Keepers is sending some of our most experienced military and law enforcement trainers, including former U..S. Special Forces trainers and SWAT certified LEO instructors to VA to assist with forming and training these militia units. We will stay on the ground in VA as long as necessary to get this critical work done.
If you are a QUALIFIED and experienced military or law enforcement trainer or veteran with sufficient experience to train others, please do volunteer to assist as a trainer. To volunteer, email us at: oathkeepersok@gmail.com and put “Volunteer military (or LEO) trainer” in subject line. Please provide any documentation of your service and training you may have, such as DD214, training certs, school graduation certs, etc Please also submit a copy of you drivers license, your CCW if you have one, and your full home address and phone number. All volunteer trainers must go through a background check. No exceptions. NOTE: You DO NOT have had to have served s a formal trainer to be qualified to teach. We would consider an experienced infantry NCO, for example, as qualified to teach others what he knows (or whatever your MOS was). If you are competent and know your stuff, step up! Of course, if you were a formal trainer, even better. But we will put you to work if you are well trained.
C. Reach Out To All The Sheriffs And Encourage Them To Form Armed Posses.
We will go to the counties that have declared themselves to be Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties (with the sheriff making similar declarations) and urge them to take the necessary next step of forming an official sheriff posse under the command of the sheriff. Declarations are a wonderful first step. But they need to be followed up by actually organizing a real, no-joke sheriff posse. A great example of what is possible is the 3,000 man posse that Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona. Sheriff Arpaio having that large posse was a game changer in his Mexican Stand-offs with the Obama Administration. It made it a very messy and risky proposition for Obama to try to play hard ball and use force.
Bottom line is we will reach out to all county governments, sheriff departments, and town governments who have declared themselves to be Second Amendment Sanctuaries to offer our assistance in organizing and training both sheriff Posse and official county militia, as well as in drafting any resolutions, training curriculum or other documents needed.
D. Form Spartan Training Groups In Each County:
Open to all citizens local to the Constitution, regardless of what group they may be in. (excluding anyone who seeks to overthrow the U.S. government or who discriminates along racial lines).
These will NOT be official units, but will instead be akin to what the Founding Fathers called “training bands” of locals who get together to train, cross-train (sharing skills) and to iron out the bugs of working together. The goal is a trained pool of men and women in each county – as large as possible, and as inclusive as possible- that can serve as a turn-key posse or militia for the county. This means the people are ALREADY organizing and training, even if the county sheriff will not yet from a posse, or even if the county government has not yet followed Tazwell County’s example by passing a resolution to form an official militia for the county. Time is of the essence, and the patriots of Virginia must start training and organizing now, other than waiting until after those official units are formed.
Whether you are a three percenter, an Oath Keeper, in a privately organized volunteer militia, some other group, or in no group at all, you will be welcome to train with us. The goal is to train EVERYONE in the county who is loyal to the Constitution. We will train them in six critical skill categories: safe, effective firearms use and small unit tactics (in both a military and law enforcement role); emergency medical; emergency communications; emergency engineering; emergency preparedness and disaster relief; community intelligence (for law enforcement and military roles). Among the goals of such groups will be the establishment of armed neighborhood watches, armed church security, preparing churches to be places of refuge, forming and training up town and county volunteer emergency response teams, and organizing as a turn-key posse in waiting and/or militia in waiting, for the county to use.
Additionally, those Spartan Training Groups can work together to urge the Sheriff to form a posse and use them in it, and they can work to urge and encourage their County government leaders to form an official militia.
3. Outreach To All Levels Of Military And Law Enforcement In Virginia. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!
We will be directly reaching out to all levels of military and law enforcement in Virginia that the governor may try to use to enforce his unconstitutional tyranny. We will do so through several different outreach methods and missions. Stay tuned for details. However, if you are a military officer or NCO (current, former, or retired), who wants to help us outreach to the Virginia National Guard, or a law enforcement officer (current, former, or retired) who wants to help outreach to VA LEOs, please email us at: oathkeepersok@gmail.com. Put “VA military outreach volunteer” or “VA LEO outreach volunteer” in subject line. We will give details to vetted volunteers.
We are fully committed to doing all we can to assist the patriots of Virginia in sending up for their rights as they encourage the military and law enforcement units of Virginia to refuse unlawful orders and by doing so, buy more time for the Federal Courts to step in and strike down as unconstitutional wherever pretend legislation nonsense the Governor or State legislature may pass.
Please help us all you can in this mission, either boots on the ground, or by donating to support those who CAN go, to serve in person. Every little bit helps.
Our trainers will need travel expenses, as well as food, lodging, and training supplies and equipment. Please help us.
With Virginia Democrats taking over all branches of state government, a firearms store owner in the state says sales of guns, magazines, and ammunition are up 200%, and more of his customers are paying in cash.
“This is the largest Christmas and November, December that we've had, basically, since Trump has come on board. The only other person that was a better salesman right now is when we had President Obama,” said Jerry Rapp, owner of SpecDive Tactical, in Alexandria, comparing the administrations of President Trump and his White House predecessor, Barack Obama.
“Every time [Obama] turned around he was going to ban something or make something illegal. But even that isn't even close to the amount of sales we're selling right now of magazines, of guns, of every kind of gun from pistol, rifle, shotguns, to AR platforms" and ammunition, Rapp told the Washington Examiner. "We can't keep it in stock.”
Since Democrats took the majorities of both chambers in Virginia’s state legislature after big wins in the November elections, gun control proposals that include bans on “assault-style” weapons, restrictions on magazine capacity, universal background checks, and restrictions to one gun a month purchases have all been brought forth.
Same at the federal level, with House Democrats entering their second year in the majority.
Virginia freshman Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who was previously a state senator, has proposed legislation in Congress to use credit card data to track gun purchases. The bill faces long odds on Capitol Hill. News about her idea has made it to Virginia firearms customers.
Rapp said his clients are increasingly concerned about privacy issues. Since the November elections, they've been purchasing with cash rather than credit cards.
Rapp, whose business includes gun safety training, says that some of the proposed legislation also affects his course instruction.
"From a gun place, the biggest [proposed legislation] that affects me right now, because we're a training company that sells guns, is if you are a trainer or if you train your son or daughter, that you could become a felon, but as a training place, we do safety," Rapp said. "We do training both from a basic pistol, rifle, shotgun to advanced combat shootings and tactical shootings for the military, law enforcement, three-letter agencies."
The 2020 Virginia Showdown
Rolling into 2020, all eyes are on Virginia following Governor Ralph Northam’s declared intention to pass onerous new gun control laws that could mandate the forced confiscation of common semi-automatic firearms which have been legal for Virginians to own for more than a century, ever since their invention. The first date in the coming showdown to be aware of is Monday, January 20th, when the Virginia Assembly opens for the new session, and Northam’s new gun laws will be considered. The Virginia Civil Defense League, a pro-Second Amendment group, is organizing a “Lobby Day” rally to be held at the state capitol to oppose these new gun control laws. It’s estimated that thousands of Virginians will attend the VCDL rally, many arriving in buses from all over the commonwealth.
In response to Northam’s plans, 90% of Virginia’s counties and many of its independent cities have declared themselves to be “second amendment sanctuaries.” After receiving vociferous pushback, Northam has recently stepped away from promising the outright confiscation of currently owned semi-auto weapons, and he is instead now demanding that gun owners register “grandfathered” weapons with the state government. Based on recent experiences in New York, Connecticut and other states that mandated registration, it’s assumed that very few Virginians will comply, instantly turning hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens into paper felons.
What will Northam’s response be to mass defiance of his gun control edicts? Common investigative tools could easily be used to locate non-compliant Virginians and arrest them on felony gun charges. At least some gun confiscation raids would inevitably lead to armed resistance, beginning a cycle of action and reaction that could, over time, grow into a low-intensity guerrilla conflict or a “dirty civil war.”
How plausible is this unwanted outcome? And what forms might a civil war over gun rights take? In certain respects we are in uncharted waters, because there are some new and unique variables in the known and studied civil war and counter-insurgency equations that are far out of line with available historical precedents. Chief among them: in all of history there has never been a civil war where, at the outset of hostilities, the resisting indigenous population was armed to the teeth with rifles capable of making 500 to 1,000 yard aimed precision shots. Never.
On average, approximately 64,000 people live in each of Virginia’s 133 counties and independent cities and towns, average land area 324 square miles. Measured another way, about 7,000 people live in each of Virginia’s 1,218 postal zip codes, average land area 42 square miles. About 250,000 Virginia state hunting license are issued each year, a small fraction of the total number of firearm owners. Now this is just a guess, but I’d bet that there are at least a hundred riflemen in every Virginia zip code capable of walking out their front door in the next five minutes, and making a rested 500 yard aimed precision shot. (For non-shooters, that means these marksmen can hit the man-size target they are aiming at.) And many of these marksmen are hunters and outdoorsmen who know their regional woods and forests like the backs of their hands.
But before any gun confiscation raids take place in Virginia, Northam’s new laws will be challenged in the courts, and, given the extremely dire potential unintended consequences, these legal challenges will quickly rise to the Supreme Court. The odds of the SCOTUS coming down on the side of confiscating millions of firearms that were legal and available for a century-plus until this year is practically nil. If the SCOTUS green-lighted Northam’s gun confiscation plans, nullifying the Second Amendment, they would virtually be declaring war on tens of millions of constitution-believing American citizens, igniting Civil War Two. Given this grim reality, and with the present SCOTUS, it’s almost inconceivable that Virginia laws permitting mass gun confiscation would be declared constitutional. Mandatory registration laws would be a more complicated issue. Creating hundreds of thousands of paper felons from those who refuse to register their firearms could simply lead to a multi-step means of confiscation via investigation, arrest, prosecution and imprisonment.
But even if the Virginia governor was given the go-ahead by the SCOTUS, and even if the present demographic shift in Virginia (based on mass immigration) continues to favor the Democrats in future elections, if any significant percentage of Virginians consider gun confiscation raids to be unconstitutional and worth resisting, make no mistake, there willbe armed resistance. Many millions of Americans, including Virginians, consider mandatory gun registration (much less confiscation!) to be a necessary first step on the path to socialist tyranny, boxcars, gulags, and worse. If and when widespread gun confiscation begins, even under the cover of so-called “red flag” laws, or following the refusal of Virginians to comply with gun registration mandates, there will be a civil war.
The geography and topography of much of Virginia means that convoys of police cars and SUVs on gun confiscation missions will be forced to travel through labyrinthine terrain on their way to and from their objectives. After a few bloody (and all-too predictable) gun raid outcomes along the lines of Ruby Ridge or Waco, at least some Virginians will not simply wait for another law enforcement (LE) convoy to arrive unmolested on their street for the next set-piece gun confiscation raid. These LE convoys will be readily identifiable far in advance of their gun raid objectives, and in the event that this constitutional struggle over the Second Amendment turns kinetic, these confiscation convoys will be taken under accurate long-range fire from hidden marksmen on the way to or returning from their objectives.
In addition, there are not enough law enforcement helicopters in Virginia to protect these hypothetical columns of police cars and SUVs heading out to confiscate weapons that were perfectly legal for Virginians to own until now. The day that state LE helicopters are used to support gun raids, these helicopters, their bases and their supporting elements will become targets.
If all 7,500 members of the Virginia National Guard were ordered by Governor Northam to support the 2,100 Virginia State Police on these confiscation raids, they would drag their feet and make enough deliberate noise in their preparations and movements that they will have little or no effect. To put the maximum numbers of hypothetically available gun confiscators into perspective, remember that Virginia has a population of 8.5 million people spread over 43,000 square miles. Also consider that the deployment of Virginia National Guard troops to support state police gun raids is by no means certain. Read The Virginia Debacle, Summarized (And Why You Should Buy More Guns) by Michael Z. Williamson to learn why this is so.
And in my humble opinion, there is no way in hell that President Donald J. Trump will commit political suicide by sending federal forces to Virginia to back up Northam’s unconstitutional gun confiscation schemes, (no matter what the SCOTUS declares), in direct defiance of the passionate will of his base. The Virginia State Police will be on their own to carry out Northam’s orders, with minimal assistance from the Virginia National Guard and local LE. (On the other hand, if Trump is replaced in the White House in 2021 by a Democrat, and the Democrats somehow manage to carry both houses of congress, then all bets are off.)
But just for the sake of discussion, let’s assume that Northam attempted to enforce his gun confiscation and/or mandatory registration laws, and an armed resistance began. How have previous modern insurgencies fared against government forces? Please consider that from the 1980s until today, the full might of the Soviet and later the U.S. military has not been able to subdue a few thousand rag-tag Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, not even when the counter-insurgency troops were operating from secure fire bases located far away from their homes and families. During a civil war in Virginia, the homes and families of the gun confiscators will be scattered among those whose guns they will be tasked with confiscating. Not a pretty picture to contemplate, particularly in an era when doxing can readily be used as a weapon to identify and “out” perceived enemies. And if resistors are afraid to post the information on the internet, just picture leaflets scattered around a neighborhood identifying the gun confiscators. This would happen. Count on it.
It’s rightly assumed that Switzerland has never been invaded by an aggressive hostile neighbor due to its long historical tradition of nearly all Swiss men retaining their military-issue battle rifles in their homes for their entire lives following their brief stints in the military reserves. More rarely considered is the fact that Switzerland has also never suffered a tyrant who harshly ruled against the will of the people or tried to disarm them. (Swiss gun laws are changing now for a variety of reasons, but the point remains.)
Just visit Governor Northam’s Twitter account and you will see that 99% of the comments on any post that he makes are tearing him to shreds with thinly veiled threats. When @GovernorVA posts a Merry Christmas message, he receives an unending torrent of angry insults and warnings in return. Online, nobody is letting Northam forget his history of appearing in blackface next to a pal in KKK robes, or that “Coonman” was his college nickname. And nobody is forgetting his recent statements on post-birth baby killing. Nonetheless, he is currently the duly-elected governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
But an important point to consider is that it doesn’t really matter if 51% or 90% of Virginia gun owners roll over and comply with Northam’s gun confiscation and/or registration laws. If even a few percent dig in their heels and privately say “hell no,” that will be enough to lead to violence. To millions of Americans, gun registration and confiscation are simply steps on the path to tyranny and, in many historical examples, eventual genocide. At least tens of thousands of Virginians will refuse to take those first steps, no matter what the law demands of them.
Following inevitably bloody gun confiscation raids, what will matter is not state-wide polling, but the individual deer hunter or sporting marksman who decides to go out on his own with his Remington or Winchester. He will hear about the latest local gun raid, and he will know the exact choke point surrounded by thick cover through which the convoy of LE police cars and SUVs will need to drive on its egress. At first, armed resistance might take the form of warning shots into engines or tires. The armed resistor will then disappear into the landscape, after caching his rifle and picking up his fishing rod for cover. Unit size: one man.
No comms, no “chatter.”
Next, the gun confiscators will begin to receive incoming pot-shots on their perimeter security elements while they are conducting suburban raids. The shooter will be back in bed before the gun raiders even know what happened. Step by step, action begetting reaction, a low intensity insurgency will grow and spread.
Consider the panic and mayhem unleashed in California a few years ago by just one angry villain conducting his own private war: Christopher Dorner shootings and manhunt (from Wikipedia) Christopher Jordan Dorner (1979-2013) was a Los Angeles police officer who, beginning on February 3, 2013, committed a series of shootings in Orange, Los Angeles, and Riverside County, California. The victims were police and civilians, including police families. Dorner killed four people and wounded three others. The rampage ended on February 12, 2013, when Dorner died during a standoff with San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies after a shootout at a cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains. A manifesto reportedly posted by Dorner on Facebook declared “unconventional and asymmetric warfare” upon the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), their families, and their associates, unless the LAPD admitted publicly he was fired in retaliation for reporting excessive force. In two separate incidents during the manhunt, police shot at three civilians unrelated to Dorner, mistaking their pickup trucks for the vehicle being driven by Dorner. One of the civilians was hit by the police gunfire, another was wounded by shattered glass, and a third individual was injured when police rammed his vehicle and opened fire.
A Virginia insurgency might begin with random single actors, then grow into squad-size actions undertaken by friends and relatives sharing a strong pre-existing bond of trust, before growing into a full-blown guerrilla war.
I always come back to what a few hundred “active IRA” in Northern Ireland managed over three decades against the power of the British military, including countless checkpoints, undercover intelligence units, widespread hidden cameras, off-the-leash SAS teams, “false-flag” discrediting operations, military helicopters and so on. In time, IRA-sympathizing Catholics left their back fences and doors unlocked so that IRA men on the run could scramble inside and hop into a bed, while their guns were concealed under the floorboards by the homeowners. Even if the British troops searched house by house up and down the street, they’d find nothing, but they would mightily anger the locals by brutally ransacking their homes. This kind of local support for resistors would evolve on its own during a dirty civil war in Virginia. (And also consider that Northern Ireland has one-eight the land area and one quarter the population of Virginia.)
Outnumbered a hundred to one by the British Army, this relative handful of active IRA tied down entire divisions for thirty years, but eventually the British gave up, signed a peace deal in 1998, and left. (And although it was required by the peace agreement, the IRA never disarmed.) And let’s not forget that a few thousand sandal-clad Taliban armed with rusty iron-sighted weapons, cell phones and walkie-talkies have fought the U.S. military to a standstill—and that is when our troops hold the major advantage of fighting from secure bases, and these troops’ families do not share neighborhoods with their enemies.
I’m simply not aware of any previous civil war where tens of thousands of aggrieved citizens began the struggle armed with rifles capable of making 500 yard and greater precision shots. This is an equation changer. Gun raids will not be possible for long if law enforcement convoys are taken under accurate fire en-route to and from gun confiscation operations, and roadside car-search checkpoint duty becomes a suicide mission. Never forget what happened to the British redcoats on the famous 1775 gun confiscation raids at Concord and Lexington, and perhaps more importantly, remember what happened to them during their retreat to Boston.
Make no mistake: gun confiscation laws, as well as laws making paper felons out of those who refuse to register their now-legal weapons (in order to expedite their future confiscation) will lead to armed resistance.
IT'S A TRAP... and I'll be there, in Virginia on January 20th? ~ Rex Reviews (Rated R) RT-16:41
TRAP TYPE: A classic Marion Antoinnette style “Let them eat cake” trap.
TRAP SPECS: Bloomberg and European billionaire elites insert Ralph Northam (a fairytale level cartoon villain) as de-facto authoritarian governor of Virginia... a State they know carries the flag “Sic semper tyrannis”. Ralphie intentionally enrages the population with a textbook Unconventional Warfare Operation taunting the populous with insane mid-evil policy suggestions and then threatens to use force against the people if they do not comply with his unlawful demands.
MECHANISM #1: Trap is set when Ralphie and his legislature unlawfully declare carrying weapons on state property to be“illegal”, taunting the people to either overreact, so they can crack down.
MECHANISM #2: Trap effectively intimidates and deters the people from standing-up as they back down to an authoritarian, so that they can continue to be corralled and subjugated in a more orderly fashion.
TRAP COUNTERMEASURES:
With a strong careful hand use an appropriate tool to hold the jaws of the trap open while a friend unsets the spring and then removes the bait. Stand up boldly and say NO to unlawful actions of the criminals taking them, do not be intimidated, do not run, do not hide, most importantly do not set the trap by overreacting. Thoroughly detail and log every attempt of their goons trying to set of the trap. Don’t back down.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRAP SETTER AND BAITER:
1. Ralphie thinks that “white sheets” and ‘black-face’ costumes are funny.
2. Ralphie links up with radical billionaire globalist, self-professed Saint Michael Bloomberg, who wants to disarm his People and dissolve the sovereignty of the United States
3. Ralphie and his crew are “voted into office” NOT by the People, but by wireless electronic voting machines with major security issues that were widely observed in similar machines years before by the Virginia State Board of Elections.
4. Ralphie is proud of helping sex offenders to get into shelters with less restrictions
5. Ralphie is cool with waiting to discuss the option of killing babies AFTER they’re born
6. Ralphie says its “illegal” to carry weapons on state grounds, before Lobby Day
7. Ralphie threatens to completely and even forcibly disarm and declaw all Virginia citizens - no matter what the cost
8. Bloomberg and Ralphie are shipping in bus-loads of paid agitators and co-agitators to conduct potential false flag operations, or to taunt the crowd into triggering the trap.
RALPHIE’S ALLIES: Ralph Northam has vetoed legislation that would allow officials to temporarily block convicted sex offenders from using emergency shelters. https://www.wavy.com/news/politics/vi...
In a display of pro-Second Amendment solidarity, a group of West Virginia lawmakers have introduced a resolution inviting Virginia counties frustrated by gun control efforts to switch states.
Delegates in the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature put the proposal forth on Tuesday.
House Concurrent Resolution 8 would allow certain Virginia counties and independent cities to be admitted to West Virginia as constituent counties.
The group of 20 West Virginia Republicans, and one Independent, introducing the resolution said in the proposal that Virginia lawmakers have repudiated “the counsel of that tribune of liberty, Patrick Henry-who stated to the Virginia Ratifying Convention in 1788 that ‘The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.'”
“[T]he government at Richmond now seeks to place intolerable restraints upon the rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution to the citizens of [Virginia,]” the proposal reads.
If it passes, the Virginia General Assembly would need to approve the resolution as well, and hold an election prior to August 1, 2020 allowing residents in Virginia counties to vote on whether they’d like to join West Virginia.
HCR8’s language makes clear West Virginia lawmakers are motivated both by their state’s historically close ties to their neighbor in the east and the ideological battle currently raging in Virginia over gun laws.
Delegate Gary Howell, one of the West Virginia Republicans who introduced HCR8, told Pluralist that Virginians have been reaching out to him for help protecting their Constitutional rights.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued a state of emergency on Wednesday that bars any weapons from the Richmond’s Capitol Square from Friday to Tuesday, after he received credible intelligence that hate groups and armed militias are planning violence at next Monday’s Lobby Day against gun control legislation.
Northam, who discussed the threats at a news conference, said the state’s law enforcement analysis found that the chatter on the internet and other venues mirrored similar messages seen around the time of the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally, which left three dead and more than 30 injured.
The governor declined to give exact details about the threats and the persons making them, but said that these groups, who were coming from outside of the state, talked about storming the Virginia Capitol.
"They are not coming to peacefully protest, they are coming to intimidate and to cause harm," he said of the outside groups.
FBI nabs three alleged neo-Nazis with machine gun ahead of Virginia gun rally
Former Canadian military reservist Patrik Jordan Mathews poses in an undated picture provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(Reuters) - The FBI has arrested three suspected members of a neo-Nazi group who had a machine gun and hopes of sparking a U.S. race war at a planned gun-rights rally in Virginia that is expected to draw thousands of people, officials said on Thursday.
Among those arrested were a former cavalry scout in the U.S. Army and a Canadian citizen who was illegally in the United States and was a combat engineer in the Canadian Army Reserve.
The arrests came the day after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency banning any weapons around the grounds of the state capitol in Richmond, saying investigators had seen groups making threats of violence.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have been sharply criticized for not focusing enough on the threat of far-right extremism following a spate of attacks on synagogues and a 2017 white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heads of both of those agencies have said in recent months that they were taking the threat more seriously.
Several thousand gun rights supporters are planning a large rally in Richmond, Virginia's capital, on Monday in response to the newly Democratic-controlled state legislature's push to stiffen gun laws.
Virginia, where Democrats took control of the legislature by promising stronger gun laws, has become the latest focal point for the contentious American debate around the right to bear arms. Many gun-rights groups contend the U.S. Constitution guarantees their ability to possess any firearm. Those opposed say gun laws would help lessen the number of people killed by guns each year.
According to a criminal complaint filed before the U.S. District Court for Maryland, the men arrested were Brian Mark Lemley Jr., who previously was in the U.S. Army; Patrik Jordan Mathews, a former Canadian military reservist; and William Garfield Bilbrough.
They are accused of interstate commerce of weapons, harboring illegal aliens, an alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and aiding and abetting. The FBI also said in the court filing that the men had attempted to manufacture DMT, a chemical resembling the structure of psilocybin in psychedelic mushrooms and an illegal drug under federal law.
While federal authorities can bring criminal terrorism charges against those suspected of working on behalf of foreign extremist groups like al Qaeda, they lack those tools when pursuing those affiliated with domestic extremist groups, whose views are protected by the free-speech clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The FBI said in the court filing that the three are members of the neo-Nazi group The Base. The FBI said in the court document that it had monitored encrypted chats among the group's members, in which they discussed creating a white ethno-state and carrying out acts of violence against minorities.
The men were in possession what appeared to be a fully automatic rifle, according to an FBI agent who watched the men fire the weapon at a gun range.
Shortly after firing the weapon on Jan. 2 at a Maryland gun range, Lemley told Mathews, "Oh, oops, it looks like I accidentally made a machine gun," according to the court document. The men were seen in possession of other guns, but the details were not included in the filing.
Lemley and Mathews lived together in Delaware, while Bilbrough resided in Maryland. Mathews illegally crossed over the border into the United States in August, according to the court document.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Austin, Texas, Mark Hosenball and Andy Sullivan in Washington and Gabriella Borter in New York; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies of threats of violence surrounding the demonstration planned for Monday, January 20. This includes extremist rhetoric similar to what has been seen before major incidents, such as Charlottesville in 2017.
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The FBI has arrested three alleged members of a neo-nazi hate group who were reportedly anticipating a possible race war and planning to bring firearms to a major guns rights demonstration next week in Virginia.
The three men — one of whom previously served as a trained combat engineer and explosives expert in the Canadian Army before his links to white supremacy emerged — were arrested in Maryland on Thursday morning.
Patrik Jordan Mathews, the 27-year-old former Canadian reservist and a main recruiter for the neo-nazi group, had reportedly entered the United States illegally ahead of the Virginia Citizens Defence League annual Lobby Day demonstrations set for Monday.
Brian M Lemley Jr, a 33-year-old former cavalry soldier in the US Army, was also one of the three men arrested by officials this week, along with 19-year-old William G Bilbrough. All three suspected members of the hate group known as "The Base" were expected to appear in federal court on Thursday afternoon.
The annual Lobby Day demonstrations have gained national attention by both proponents of the Second Amendment and gun control activists after Virginia’s General Assembly advanced four sweeping gun control bills, setting the stage for a potentially contentious showdown between both sides of the ideological divide.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has since declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned firearms from Capitol grounds, where the demonstrations are set to take place.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Civil Rights Defence League, told The Independent in an interview the group’s lawyers are looking into whether the governor had the legal authority to temporarily ban firearms in a state known for its lax open carry laws.
“First of all, we don’t think it’s legal”, Mr Van Cleave said about the temporary ban. “We don’t think he has the power to do what he’s doing.”
The guns rights group has estimated as many as 100,000 demonstrators could flock to the city on Martin Luther King day for the demonstrations, and has scheduled charter buses throughout the state for its members hoping to attend the event.
In announcing the state of emergency, Mr Northam said in a statement there was credible evidence that “militia groups and hate groups, some from out of state, plan to come to the Capitol to disrupt our democratic process with acts of violence”.
“We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies of threats of violence surrounding the demonstration planned for Monday, January 20”, the governor wrote on Twitter.
We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies of threats of violence surrounding the demonstration planned for Monday, January 20. This includes extremist rhetoric similar to what has been seen before major incidents, such as Charlottesville in 2017.
1,054 Twitter Ads information and privacy
He added: “This includes extremist rhetoric similar to what has been seen before major incidents, such as Charlottesville in 2017.”
The arrest of the three suspected neo-Nazis planning to attend Lobby Day was in part the result of an extensive investigation the FBI was conducting into The Base, according to the New York Times.
By Rachel DePompa | May 22, 2014 at 2:49 AM EDT - Updated July 2 at 10:20 AM
CAROLINE, VA (WWBT) - Virginia police are quietly stocking up on millions of dollars in leftover military equipment.
Agencies around the Commonwealth have been doing this for the better part of two decades.
For instance, we found the predecessor to the military's modern day Mine Resistant Armored Vehicle also known as a MRAP. It's often used to transport soldiers and protect them from bombs. It's 24 feet across and weighs 25,000 pounds and you might see it on the streets of Caroline County.
"It didn't cost our taxpayers anything," said Caroline County Sheriff Tony Lippa.
How's that possible? They got it through what's called the military's 1033 program.
It's first come, first served. The military gives away its unwanted or out of commission items to local police....
What We Learned from the Bloomberg Effect in Virginia
Ammoland Inc. Posted on by Rob Morse U.S.A.-(Ammoland.com)- There is a lot we can learn from the recent elections in Virginia. Democrats now hold the majority in both houses of the legislature, the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of state.
To touch the obvious highpoints-
Money talks. When your local representative is elected to office because billionaire Michael Bloomberg bought his victory, then the representative doesn’t speak for you. He speaks for Bloomberg.
Politicians who take large campaign contributions can propose disastrous laws so long as the contributions continue. Bloomberg’s political contributions becomes essential while the local results of legislation becomes superfluous.
News outlets accept money to run campaign advertisements. Beyond their personal biases, the media’s commercial incentives further distort their ability to report honestly on an election.
Big-government politicians in both parties want more government so that political payoffs continue. These politicians have no use for limited government and free citizens.
All elections have consequences. Unusual elections have unusual consequences. Even before they took office, the Virginia Democrats advanced Bloomberg’s agenda.
Virginia Democrats proposed to outlaw zoning for new single-family homes and thus to punish the people who live outside the dense urban centers that make up the core Democrat constituency. Living in your own home is now racist.
Virginia Democrats proposed to disarm honest citizens in and near the state capital. Democrats don’t trust the people who elected them.
Virginia Democrats proposed to disarm adults under 21 years of age. That means you could be a young police officer and carry a gun when you’re on duty, you could also be old enough to be married and have children, but you wouldn’t be old enough to buy a gun to protect your family when you’re off duty. Only a true believer thinks that makes sense.
Democrats proposed to outlaw firearms in common use for the last hundred years. In the name of “freedom and democracy”, they want to outlaw the tools that gave us our freedom and democracy. Honest gun owners across the state said they would not comply. Police officers and Sheriff’s deputies also said they would not comply.
Virginia Democrats proposed to illegally use the National Guard to go door to door and forcibly confiscate firearms from honest gun owners. That is how you start a civil war.
If gun control laws in other states are a guide, then these gun prohibition laws would not apply to the legislators themselves. If I’m wrong and the laws apply equally to our rulers, then Bloomberg’s money can buy a full time security detail for every Democrat legislature and their family.
You, on the other hand, are on your own.
The publicly stated rationale is that these power-grabs are for “the public good” and to reduce “gun violence”. If this bigotry against gun owners runs true to form, then in the name of public safety we’ll ask the police to disarm honest citizens who are less danger to the public than the police. In the name of public safety, we’ll establish more “gun free zones” where criminals hunt for disarmed victims. The mainstream media will publish the gun-prohibition talking-points but ignore that crime has fallen while gun ownership has soared.
There is some good news as well. Today, we have the alternative media and it is harder than ever to fool all the people all the time. Unfortunately, you still have to get off the couch to vote once you’re informed about the issues.
Today, we have the alternative media and it is harder than ever to fool all the people all the time.
Talking points are easy and progress is hard. Actions to reduce urban violence would be to reverse Democrat regulation and let industry make more jobs. We’d stop the government programs that destroy our families. We’d end the disastrous drug-prohibition laws that turn our Democrat-controlled cities into war zones as immigrant drug gangs fight for turf. That won’t happen because this contest is about political power rather than being about violence or prosperity.
Prohibition is a foolish and dangerous quest. I’d respect billionaire Bloomberg if he tackled our ruinous drug prohibition scheme, but instead, Bloomberg chose to assaults our individual right of self defense. Drug lords would probably attack Bloomberg if he tried to make drugs legal. I think Bloomberg judged that honest gun owners in the US were safer scapegoats for failed Democrat policies. I hope a wise judge will stop Bloomberg’s foolishness before too many of us are hurt or killed.
On the plus side for liberty, billionaire Bloomberg created a hundred thousand activists who might change the next elections in Virginia. Looking across the state, there were over 90 meetings to establish second-amendment sanctuaries in December. 112 local governments voted to ignore unconstitutional infringements on the right to bear arms.
We’ve seen the second-amendment sanctuary movement spread into other states. Why don’t you go to your county board and start a sanctuary county where you live?
January 16th, 2020, 21:48
vector7
Re: Will America Break Up?
Almost a decade old but still has relevance today...
Land of The Free - "American Resistance Movement" 1st day of the 2nd American Revolution (14:58)
Well, after nearly a decade of ineptitude, the Virginia Republican Party has given us back-to-back Democratic governors. Oh, and the state legislature flipped in the 2019 elections.
For the first time in two decades, the Democrats control all in the Old Dominion. They’re liberal. They’re anti-gun. They want to turn Virginia into Maryland. These folks wasted no time getting universal background checks, a ban on so-called assault weapons, one-gun-a-month law, magazine limits, and increasing the age to purchase guns on the docket. Something is going to pass. That’s the bad news. The good news is with enough pressure; Virginia’s Second Amendment supporters and gun owners can hopefully scare lawmakers from some of the more radical measures.
The assault weapons ban died in committee in the Virginia State Senate, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be logrolled into something else. Regardless, one-gun-a-month seems like the one that is likely to be signed into law again. It was repealed under former Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell. The National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm has already noted that some of these proposed bills, like banning private sales that don’t pay fees and are done without prior authorization from government authority is totally unenforceable and will have zero impact on fighting crime (via NRA-ILA):
Senate Bill 35, introduced by Senator Scott Surovell, would destroy Virginia’s firearm preemption laws by allowing localities to create new “gun-free zones” in and around public buildings, parks, and permitted events such as farmer’s markets. Criminals would ignore these restrictions, leaving law-abiding citizens unable to defend themselves and their loved ones.
Senate Bill 69, introduced by Senator Mamie Locke, commonly referred to as “one-gun-a-month,” would arbitrarily ration an individual’s right to lawfully purchase a handgun to once within 30 days.
Senate Bill 70, introduced by Senator Louise Lucas, would ban sales between private individuals without first paying fees and obtaining government permission. Firearm sales between friends, neighbors, or fellow hunters, would not be exempted. This proposal would have no impact on crime and is completely unenforceable.
Frankly, it wouldn’t shock me if all these bills passed. They probably will since Democrats are the majority. Elections matter. They have consequences and a decade of shoddy candidate recruitment has landed us here. Republicans use to have a supermajority in the House of Delegates. Those were the days. Now, we’re dealing with multiple attempts by Democrats to shred our Constitutional rights regarding gun ownership, with some openly discussing using the National Guard to confiscate guns. We’re in dark times for sure.
The Virginia state Capitol building is surrounded by fencing, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 in Richmond, Va., in preparation for Monday's rally by gun rights advocates. Gun-rights groups are asking a judge to block the Virginia governor's ban on firearms at a massive pro-gun rally scheduled for next week. Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday, Jan. 15, announced a state of emergency and banned all weapons from the rally at the Capitol. (Dean Hoffmeyer/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP){/p}
UPDATE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A judge has upheld Governor Northam's ban on all types of weapons at a pro-gun rally planned for next week.
Gov. Ralph Northam had announced the ban on Wednesday as he declared a state of emergency over threats of “armed militia groups storming our Capitol.” The judge’s order Thursday came hours after the FBI announced the arrest of three alleged white supremacists in Maryland.
David Browne, an attorney for the gun-rights groups, argued that prohibiting rallygoers from carrying guns would violate their Second Amendment right to bear arms and their First Amendment right to free speech. Browne said carrying guns is a form of symbolic speech.
Virginia’s solicitor general, Toby Heytens argued that the governor was well within his authority to declare the state of emergency and ban weapons after law enforcement identified “credible evidence” that armed out-of-state groups planned to come to Virginia with the possible intention of participating in a “violent insurrection.”
Heytens said the alleged white supremacists arrested Thursday had discussed traveling to Richmond “to engage in a race war.”
Richmond Circuit Court Upholds Executive Order Forty-Nine
The Richmond Circuit Court today upheld Governor Ralph Northam’s decision, outlined in Executive Order Forty-Nine, to temporarily ban firearms on Capitol grounds from 5:00 PM on Friday, January 17,...
governor.virginia.gov
In the lawsuit, they claim the executive order violates citizens' First Amendment rights.
A hearing for the challenging lawsuit was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Richmond Circuit Court.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League is part of the Lobby Day Rally on January 20 and called the weapon ban illegal. On Facebook, the group has asked for peace ahead of the rally.
"We cannot stress enough that this is a peaceful day to assemble and address our Legislature about protecting our right to keep and bear arms. Lobby Day is NOT about statues, flags, racism, sexism, or anything other than protecting the right to keep and bear arms for ALL law-abiding citizens," they wrote.
Northam's planned announcement comes days after Democratic leaders used a special rules committee to ban guns inside the Capitol and a legislative office building.
IMPORTANT REQUEST: We need 10,000 patriots to fill the Capitol grounds for Monday's rally!
Unfortunately, the Virginia Supreme Court just said they did not have enough information on the stay denied by the lower court to issue their own stay, so the Governor's illegal gun-ban on Capitol grounds is going to stand for this event.
Here is what we need to do on Monday to make the rally a success:
DETAILS:
VCDL needs at least 10,000 members/gun owners to commit to "taking one for the team'" by entering the Capitol grounds unarmed around 10 am and being in place for the rally by 10:45 am. Those who were lobbying will already be unarmed, so we urge them to be part of the 10,000 inside the fencing. NOTE: knives with folding metal blades less than 3-inches long are ARE permitted both in the General Assembly AND on the Capitol grounds.
For every one gun owner on the Capitol grounds, we need another two to five people outside the Capitol grounds's fence on 9th Street. Those doing so can be legally armed.
If you can commit to being one of our needed 10,000 unarmed members inside the fence, please help us by asking several of your family and friends to be your designated armed escort to the gates and to stand outside the fenced area to watch over us.
WHY:
We are separating our responsibilities, in this otherwise untenable and unconstitutional situation foisted on gun owners by Northam. Gun owners standing, both inside and outside of the fence, ensure that the Capitol grounds and the surrounding area is filled to capacity to hear our speakers and it will make a great visual for the cameras!
For those who are going to be on the Capitol grounds, the less items you bring along, the quicker and more efficient the screening.
VCDL will have loudspeakers so that those outside the fence will be able to hear. The event will also be broadcast live on WRVA radio, 1140 AM /96.1 FM.
IMPORTANT:
We ask everyone to follow the temporary Capitol grounds rules. There is NO need for an act of civil disobedience to achieve standing for a court fight. We already have standing.
We still will have our day in court to fully debate the governor's unconstitutional overreach in just a few short weeks.
Thank you very much for your support and understanding. The Governor and his cronies would like nothing better than to see the Capitol grounds empty, with the speakers talking only to themselves. We simply cannot let that happen.
PLEASE CHOOSE ONE:
Arrive temporarily UNARMED and go INSIDE the fenced area on the Capitol groundsor
Stand with us, LEGALLY ARMED if you so choose, just OUTSIDE the fence and watch over your brothers and sisters inside the fence
Either way, we'll see you there!
FINAL NOTE:
Monday is going to be a day of lobbying, with a peaceful rally. All law-abiding citizens are invited. The Capitol, State, and Richmond police forces will be providing strong security. We thank them in advance for helping make sue that the event is a safe and fun event.
Posted 1/14/20 a VA Film Agency 2hours away from Richmond, 1 hour from Langley was looking for Crisis Actors (Terrorists, IED Victims, Hostages and Rescue Teams) The film agency changed the description with a NOTE yesterday to say it was not part of the Richmond situation, then finally pulled the quoted posting below late yesterday.
Call Out for CRISIS ACTORS in Virginia..As GOV Declares State of Emergency
Description: HEAT courses are designed to prepare NGO staff for operating in challenging international environments through in-person simulations. Actors take on varying roles (terrorist, IED victim, hostage, rescue team) throughout each workshop. The work can be intense (both physically and mentally) but also very rewarding.
Any submissions directly to this e-mail address (rather than through the form) will be disregarded. Thank you for your interest in this project!
Shaun Irving
ONE DAY AGO- VIRGINIA GOV DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AHEAD OF GUNS RIGHTS RALLY, citing "credible" threats of violence https://www.google.com/search?q=virgi...
More alleged members of neo-Nazi group called 'The Base' arrested | ABC News (3:00)
The arrests were announced just before the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a gun ban ahead of a rally where the FBI says several alleged members of the white supremacist group were planning to attend.
On Thursday and Friday, all three broadcast networks eagerly joined Virginia Democrats in attempting to smear gun rights advocates in the commonwealth as violent, racist terrorists who were plotting “a rerun of the deadly Charlottesville protests.” Reporters seized on Governor Ralph Northam declaring a “state of emergency” ahead of a pro-Second Amendment rally at the statehouse in Richmond.
“There are new fears tied to a pro-gun rally that’s scheduled in Virginia,” co-host Savannah Guthrie warned viewers on NBC’s Today show. Leading off the full report that followed, correspondent Geoff Bennett added to the hysteria: “The Virginia capital is bracing for violence ahead of next week’s gun rights rally. Officials are concerned it could be a rerun of the deadly Charlottesville protests that unfolded three years ago.”
After declaring “Virginia on high alert,” Bennett hyped the arrest of three neo-Nazis who were in no way affiliated with any of the groups organizing the upcoming peaceful demonstration:
Just days before thousands of gun rights activists are expected to rally at the state capital, the FBI arresting three alleged members of a violent white supremacist group on gun charges. The group is known as “The Base,” which is the English translation of “Al-Qaeda.” Law enforcement officials say the men had obtained weapons and discussed participating in the rally.
The reporter then touted: “Just one day earlier, Governor Ralph Northam declaring a state of emergency after learning armed militias and hate groups planned to join the protest.”
While briefly explaining that “protesters are expected to voice their opposition to tougher gun laws being proposed in the state” during Monday’s rally, Bennett reiterated: “Northam says he fears a repeat of the deadly 2017 march by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia.” Turning to a woman on the street, the reporter asked: “Are you worried about what might happen on Monday?” She predictably reacted with concern to how he framed the story: “Yeah, yeah, definitely. If it’s anything like Charlottesville, that’s scary.”
To his credit, Bennett did seek out another woman who was a gun rights supporter, noting: “Some see the Governor’s action as an assault on their Second Amendment rights.” The unidentified woman told him: “We bear arms peacefully. We desire to keep and stay under the Constitution of the United States.”
Wrapping up the report, Bennett mentioned that “Organizers of the gun rights rally say they are encouraging peaceful protests.” Though he then felt the need to add that Northam “is also asking event organizers to disavow any group that would threaten to do violence.”
On CBS This Morning, fill-in co-host Michelle Miller panicked: “The arrest of three alleged white supremacists is raising alarms ahead of a gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia.” She proclaimed: “The state’s governor says there is credible intelligence of potential violence at Monday’s event.” The headline “Gun Rally Threat” appeared on screen next to her as she introduced the segment.
Reporting from Richmond, correspondent Jeff Pegues sensationalized: “The arrest of the three men, Michelle, is really feeding this narrative that there could be violence here on Monday. In fact, investigators say the three men were targeting the event as a way of spreading their hate-filled ideology.”
“The arrests only reinforce concerns Monday’s rally could be a repeat of what happened in Charlottesville in 2017 unless officials intervene,” he feared moments later.
Talking to one of the protest organizers, Virginia Citizens Defense League president Philip Van Cleave, Pegues pressed: “Are you concerned that it could escalate into something you didn’t expect?” The reporter complained that Van Cleave “refuses to call off the event over the arrests.” For his part, Van Cleave pushed back: “We will not let them deter us or slow us down. We’re trying to protect rights here.”
ABC’s Good Morning America did not cover the topic on Friday, but on Thursday’s World News Tonight, anchor David Muir offered this news brief:
The FBI tonight has arrested three alleged members of the neo-Nazi group “The Base” ahead of a gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia. Among them, a former reservist in the Canadian army who allegedly had weapons and discussed traveling to the rally. As we reported last night, Governor Ralph Northam has imposed a temporary ban on weapons near the capitol, where a rally against new gun regulations is planned for Monday.
Just imagine if a liberal protest was scheduled to object to a conservative policy, would the media spend days leading up to the event suggesting the left-wing organizers of the rally were somehow in league with violent extremists?
Here is the January 17 report on NBC’s Today show:
FBI Makes 3 Arrests Ahead Of Pro-Gun Rally In Virginia | TODAY 1:57
Virginia gun rights rally to draw thousands to Richmond(2:49)
Members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League are holding a gun rights rally in Richmond in response to the state's Senate passing several gun control bills. One America's Neil W. McCabe has more on the rally.