Still giddy now that Virginia’s state government is under complete Democrat control for the first time in a generation, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that they’re going to take on and go after gun owners.
Regarding gun control, he referred to eight “common-sense” bills he proposed for the special legislative session he convened in July, in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Virginia Beach on May 31. Republicans who controlled the General Assembly shut down that session after 90 minutes — sending all of the bills to the crime commission and promising to reconvene after the election.
Northam mentioned universal background checks, banning the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, restoring the law that limits purchases to one gun a month, and a red flag law that would empower a court to remove a gun from a person deemed to be a risk to himself or others.
Asked whether he supports confiscating assault weapons from gun owners, Northam would not say:
“That’s something I’m working [on] with our secretary of public safety,” he said. “I’ll work with the gun violence activists, and we’ll work [on] that. I don’t have a definitive plan today.”
CNBC reported that Everytown for Gun Safety — a gun control-advocacy group largely bankrolled by billionaire Michael Bloomberg — “spent $2.5 million this year to influence voters in Virginia versus approximately $300,000 by the NRA, which has its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia.”
The End of the Commonwealth
Since they will control both the legislature and the governor’s mansion, it will be up to Democrats to redraw boundaries for state legislative and congressional districts after the 2020 Census. Democrats benefited on Tuesday from a federal court decision earlier this year that ordered the state to redraw dozens of district maps because 11 had been racially gerrymandered. Several of those districts became more favorable to Democrats. “The is a blue state,” Northam said. “I made that announcement last night…So Virginia’s blue. I want everybody to know that.”
Nioaka Marshall says
Can we say Adolf Hitler? This is how be began to obtain power.
MJM says
Politics continues to degrade itself in this country due to the horrid partisan policies within the 2 party system. Whenever I see quotes like this from any politician, I am able to easily be happier with my status as a registered independent. “This is a blue State. I want everybody to know that”.
“If” that quote means our governor plans to push a national democratic agenda on the people of Va while the majority of Virginians disagree with that policy, it will bring us down a very sad road.
I am not saying all ideas from the democrat party will fall in that category. I simply am saying that it is the job of our politicians to represent the will of Virginians. Failure to do so brings out front an attitude that shows us some politicians believe they know better than we do, and must represent us a different way than we want them to. Any politician who does carry on in that manner is a part of the swamp that needs to be drained.
Eddie says
I appreciate that you understand that this is not a 100% black-or-white issue, unlike some of the other comments on this thread. You’re right about reflecting the will of Virginians – certain basic safety measures like mandatory background checks and red flag laws are broadly supported by a clear majority of Virginians. The Republican-led legislature’s total unwillingness to even take up these widely-supported basic safety measures is a large part of why they lost the trust of Virginians and why the election resulted as it did.
Ray Otton says
Experience with existing red flag laws should give Virginians pause before handing over this kind of power to the state government.
These laws trample due process, one of our basic rights. People targeted by gun confiscation orders are often unaware that the orders have been issued and defendants often are unable to appear at a hearing or cross-examine witnesses.
In addition, the criteria for red-flagging a person in the states that have enacted such laws are vague. In some states, the laws allow only police officers, family members, romantic partners and cohabitants to refer someone for gun confiscation. The reality, though, is that anyone can refer someone by first referring him or her to the police making the system ripe for abuse.
Does any of this sound like a good idea?
As for universal background checks, the dirty little secret the gun grabbers would have us ignore is that not a single mass public shooting that would have been prevented by universal background checks.
And the other dirty little secret?
Universal background checks would require a universal gun registry. This would be another step towards the slippery slope of gun confiscation, something almost of the Democrat candidates for president heartily endorse.
The truly disturbing thing is that as these proposals become law they will fail to produce the intended results and then there will be a push for even more gun control initiatives.
I suggest it’s time to slow down and look at the facts before rushing new laws into place that do nothing but further infringe on law abiding citizens’ civil rights.
Oh and………………you ain’t gettin’ the guns. There are 100 million gun owners in this country and there will be about 95 million tragic boat accidents in which these poor folks lose their guns overboard.
Count on it.
Austin Bragg says
Want to create a gun-free America in 5 easy steps?
Here’s all there is to it:
Step 1: Elect. For a gun-free America, the first thing you’ll need is two-thirds of Congress. So elect a minimum of 67 Senators and 290 Representatives who are on your side.
Step 2: Propose. Then, have them vote to propose an amendment to the Constitution which repeals Second Amendment gun rights for all Americans.
Step 3: Ratify. Then convince the legislators of 38 states to ratify that change.
At this point, the Second Amendment is history, but you’ve done nothing to decrease gun violence. All you’ve done is remove the barrier for Congress to act.
Step 4: Legislate. You need to enact “common sense” reform.
You can try to do what Australia did and…ban all guns? That’s not at all what they did, but whatever, fuck it. Go big or go home, right?
It will have to be passed by Congress and signed by the president.
Great! The law is passed and guns are now illegal. The only thing left to do is…
Step 5: Enforce. Guns won’t just disappear because you passed a law. You need to confiscate some 350 million guns scattered among 330 Million Americans.
Sure, you can try a buy-back program like Australia, but like Australia that will still leave behind anywhere from 60 percent to 80 percent of privately owned firearms.
The rest you have to take.
You’ll need the police, the FBI, the ATF or the National Guard—all known for their nuanced approach to potentially dangerous situations—to go door-to-door, through 3.8 million square miles of this country and take guns, by force, from thousands, if not, millions of well-armed individuals. Many of whom would rather start a civil war than acquiesce.
So inevitably gun violence, which is currently at a historic low, will skyrocket.
But that is how you get a gun-free America in five easy steps.
David Cowan says
Austin,
Your message is loud and clear! Until Heller, 2008, the Second Amendment meant nothing to Democrats. Now they will still dance and wave their hand and try to make it disappear.
A couple of minor details: Australia didn’t ban ALL guns. However, in addition to banning all handguns and all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, they also banned all pump-action shotguns. Modern killing machines like the Winchester Model of 1897 pump gun. The Remington 870 and the Mossberg Model 500.
Don’t forget that a shotgun was used in the Navy Yard killing, to shoot up a school in Texas, and to kill newspaper staff in Annapolis. We certainly can’t have civilians in possession of such deadly equipment.
Australia likes to call it a “buy-back”, but in reality it was confiscation with compensation. There was nothing voluntary about it.
Slide Easy says
How do you ‘Buy Back’ something you never sold in the first place??? How do you buy something that is not for sale???
Blue Hoss says
When I was part of boarding teams in The USCG I always chose the Remington 870 over the Colt M16. It does not take much thought to figure out why. A shotgun is a powerful tool.
Paul Plante says
Thanks for your service, Hoss!
Is that the one known as the “street sweeper?”
David says
No, just a regular old duck-gun. Just like the ones used in Annapolis, the Navy Yard, and the school in Texas. Just like the ones banned in Australia.
Paul Plante says
As you say, David, there are indeed a lot of very sick and truly ******-up people in the world who would do those kinds of things, and as you point out, have clearly done so.
There was a time when they would have been institutionalized in some place for the criminally insane, but that offended the liberals, who want those people to be just as equal as everyone else, so they got the institutions closed and brought those criminally insane people back into contact with the public at large.
You must remember Willy Horton, David – he would be a case in point.
For the younger people in here who might not remember Willy Horton, who is a symbol of Democrat party policies with respect to criminals here in America, William R. Horton, born August 12, 1951, is an American convicted felon who, while serving a life sentence for murder (without the possibility of parole), was the beneficiary of a Massachusetts Democrat weekend furlough program.
Except Willy did not return from his furlough, and ultimately committed assault, armed robbery, and rape before being captured and sentenced in Maryland where he remains incarcerated.
With Democrat policies like that, David, we are pretty much screwed, right, when it comes to be protected from people like Willy Horton?
Do you think that Willy Horton gave a **** about gun laws?
Haig Ferguson says
Fact: 98% of the murders are committed by democrats and they want to confiscate our self protection.
Think about it/Chicago
tokenny says
LOL, Haig, you want to back up that statement with some documentation?
You won’t be able to find any because the FBI does not track homicides/murders by party affiliation but nice try.
Haig Ferguson says
Of the 112 homicide suspects identified by police so far in last year’s regional killings, 102 are African-American, or 91 percent of the total. That’s up from 88 percent in 2015.In Richmond, 95 percent are black, down from 97 percent in 2015, the data show.
tokenny says
…and all Blacks are Democrats???
FBI statistics are based on Age, Sex, Race and Ethnicity. There is no checkbox for Party Affiliation.
David says
tokenny,
Just as one should never say “never”, one should never say “all”.
However (which one should always consider), there are data…
According to the Pew Research Center (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/11/08/the-2018-midterm-vote-divisions-by-race-gender-education/), in the 2018 elections, 90% of black Americans voted Democratic.
90% of black Americans voted Democratic.
A quick internet search found other sources reporting very similar findings.
So, while Haig Ferguson overstates the situation a bit, by and large he is correct.
Do not misinterpret the data to imply that 90% of Democrats or blacks, or any other group, commit crimes. They do not. Only a tiny minority of any group is involved in any criminal behavior.
jim henderson says
tokenny- I am pretty sure that the democratic leadership think so. At least they act that way.
Todd Holden says
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_a7dQXilCo
tokenny says
David, while I don’t disagree with you, the statistics you provide state – of the blacks that voted 90% voted democrat. How many blacks didn’t vote? So, that link doesn’t necessarily support ” all blacks are democrat”
Haig’s original comment was:
Fact: 98% of the murders are committed by democrats and they want to confiscate our self protection.
He then extrapolated that to … all Blacks are democrats which in turn somehow means all murders are committed by democrats. Wouldn’t it be nice if it was that easy? Once you got through the democrats you could then round up all the left handed people because they are evil.
Todd, it’s a shame you go through life framing everything by party affiliation. Along with not bring anything to this conversation, unless you too believe that 90% of murders are committed by democrats.
I’d like to point out history is just that, the study of the past. I assume you do remember that the English were our sworn enemies? They are are bestest buddies now. Germans and Japanese, same thing. While it’s nice to know where things started it’s much more important to see where they are.