(Reuters) – President Donald Trump took aim at Virginia Democrats and their push to stiffen the state’s gun laws, saying that the U.S. Constitution was under attack just as thousands of armed militia members began arriving in Richmond for a Monday gun rally.
Trump doubled down with his support of gun enthusiasts in the state, which Hilary Clinton won in 2016 and where Democrats took full control of the state legislature for the first time in a generation in November, as candidates made passing stronger gun control laws a central campaign theme.
“Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia,” Trump wrote in a post on Twitter Friday night, referring to the amendment in the Bill of Rights that gives Americans the right to keep and bear firearms. “That’s what happens when you vote for Democrats, they will take your guns away.”
The Virginia Senate late on Thursday passed bills to require background checks on all firearms sales, limit handgun purchases to one a month, and restore local governments’ right to ban weapons from public buildings and other venues.
Gun-control activists have reported a growing number of online death threats as the lawmakers press on and ahead of a rally by arms enthusiasts on Monday in Richmond, the state capital, which authorities are trying to keep from becoming violent.
Both Virginia legislative houses are expected to pass the new laws including universal background checks, a ban on assault rifles, and “red flag” laws that would allow courts and local law enforcement to remove guns from people deemed a risk to communities, among other measures.
Supporters say more restrictive laws would help decrease the number of people killed by guns each year. Gun-rights activists assert that the constitution guarantees their right to possess any firearm.
Militias, neo-Nazis and other groups have vowed to swarm the capital and police are expecting several thousand people at the pro-gun rally on Monday.
On Thursday, the FBI arrested three members of a small neo-Nazi group who authorities said hoped to ignite a race war through violent acts at the rally, reminiscent of a 2017 white supremacist rally in nearby Charlottesville.
That rally proved a critical moment in the rise of the “alt-right,” a loose alignment of fringe groups centered on white nationalism and emboldened by Trump’s 2016 election. Trump was criticized from the left and right for initially saying there were “fine people on both sides” of the dispute between neo-Nazis and their opponents at the rally.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Austin, Texas; Editing by Leslie Adler)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ahead-tinder-box-virginia-gun-110645340.html
That Trump tweet was ONLY a plug for voting for R’s not that he was defending the 2nd. Only a campaign stunt as he will be in VA campaigning.
Can it get any more pathetic!?
I’m believe so, it just the begining
Exactly Katie
11hrs. ago
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 grounds or
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.
Thank you. PVC
https://www.facebook.com/VCDL.ORG/posts/3631179833566326?__tn__=K-R