Category: Gun rights
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Shades of Charlottesville?
by James A. Bacon Gun rights advocates and militia members from around the country are planning to descend on Richmond later this month to protest the enactment of gun-control bills in the General Assembly. As the Washington Post reports, the Second Amendment sanctuary movement has jumped Virginia’s borders. “Far-right websites and commentators are declaring that…
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Are Gun Control Laws Racist?
by James A. Bacon In 2018, according to the Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia report, law enforcement authorities reported 305 juveniles and 3,931 adults arrested for “weapon law violations.” If Democrats tighten gun control laws and vigorously enforce them, we can be reasonably sure that the number of arrests will increase. That could put…
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Virginia on the Road to Anarchy
by James A. Bacon Enforcement of the laws of Virginia may become optional in Fairfax and Arlington Counties when newly elected Commonwealth’s Attorneys — Steve Descano in Fairfax and Parisa Dehghani-Tafti in Arlington — take office. Both have promised to stop prosecuting marijuana possession, reports the Washington Post. Descano and Dehghani-Tafti said pot possession prosecutions…
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Media Botching Second Biggest Political Story of 2020
by James A. Bacon According to gun-rights groups, 87 Virginia counties, 10 cities, and 18 towns have adopted Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions. The magnitude of this grassroots movement is unprecedented in recent Virginia history. Nothing can compare, not even the Tea Party movement. If you want to know what’s animating the gun-rights movement, though, you…
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Virginians, Don’t Spread Russian Agitprop!
I’m not unsympathetic to Virginians who declare Second Amendment sanctuaries around the state. They’re an in-your-face retort to sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants. If liberals scheme to devise ways to evade laws they don’t like, don’t be surprised if conservatives do, too. But a good thing can go too far. Like when Second Amendment sanctuary…
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Hold Your Hosses, Partner
by James A. Bacon Democrats are submitting a slew of gun-control bills for consideration in the 2020 General Assembly session. Given that the session doesn’t begin until next month, it goes without saying that none have been passed yet. So, it’s impossible to say what gun-related legislation will emerge. But that’s not stopping gun-rights groups…
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Bacon Bits: Guns, Tolls, Evictions
You’ll have to pry my gun from… More than 90 governing bodies in Virginia have voted to declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, reports WDBJ. Ninety! Unbelievable. Thousands of citizens have appeared at board meetings across the state to demonstrate their support for the resolutions. Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave said the sanctuary…
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Welcome to the Crazy Times: Gun Control Edition
by James A. Bacon Virginia voters support gun control measures such as requiring background checks on all gun sales (86% to 13% margins), passing a “red flag” law (72% to 23%), and banning assault-style weapons (54% to 44%), according to a poll released today by the Wason Center for Public Policy. With that level of…
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The Mo’ Money Mountain Grows Ever Bigger
In his latest budgetary proposal, Governor Ralph Northam has proposed returning $733 million to Virginia taxpayers… Oh, wait a minute. I guess I misread the announcement. It seems he’s proposing $733 million in new spending to protect the environment and fight climate change. That’s on top of advocating Virginia’s entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas…
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Crazy about Guns
by Dick Hall-Sizemore It’s going to be a fun G.A. session. Here are some quotes from the rally yesterday at the Capitol in opposition to Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw’s bill to outlaw assault weapons: Retired engineer from Fairfax County: “And without semi-automatic rifles, there is no way, not a chance in the world, that…
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The Rank Hypocrisy of Rural Gun Sanctuaries
by Peter Galuszka When Donald Trump ran for president on a platform of virulent xenophobia, one of the rallying cries he favored was the idea that liberal-minded localities were forming “sanctuary cities” and would not cooperate with federal immigration officials on the prowl for undocumented aliens. Right-wing Virginia politicians, notably Corey A. Stewart, who led…
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Go West, Young Man, and Get a Concealed Carry Permit
The farther west in Virginia you go, the more likely it is that the guy standing next to you carries a concealed-carry permit. What would really be interesting is to see the correlation between the percentage of concealed permits and number of crimes committed with firearms. — JAB
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Best Gun Violence Idea Not Proposed in VA?
by Steve Haner The most effective gun violence prevention idea presented to the Virginia State Crime Commission Monday was one seldom discussed in the state: Add violent misdemeanors to the list of convictions that prevent gun purchases from a licensed dealer. Four states, including Maryland, have that provision and a Boston University study found it…
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Gun Issues Return to Capitol Monday, Tuesday
by Steve Haner Proposed firearms regulations will pack a General Assembly meeting room Monday and Tuesday, and for that portion of the population not already locked into an ideological position either way, it could be useful to pay attention. The Republican majorities have taken some political bashing for failing to act on the flood of…
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Exercising Your Second Amendment Right
Interesting scenario: You are doing some shopping in Walmart. Alarmed by the recent nationwide shootings, you are carrying your recently legally authorized concealed handgun. A man walks in, carrying an assault-style rifle and a handgun strapped to his side, along with several magazines of ammunition. This also is legal in Virginia. What do you do?…