U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Almost immediately after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam unveiled several gun control proposals in reaction to the Virginia Beach mass shooting, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms fired back, accusing the anti-gun Democrat of exploiting the tragedy to push “the same ragged old gun prohibition agenda that has been…rejected time after time.”
Northam traveled to Virginia Beach to announce he will seek “universal background checks, bans on assault weapons and suppressors, extreme risk protective orders, child access prevention and other restrictions.” His agenda also includes reinstating the Commonwealth’s one-handgun-a-month restriction and requiring people to report lost or stolen firearms, according to USA Today.
But CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, who also founded the Second Amendment Foundation more than 40 years ago, was having none of it. He essentially threw down the gauntlet.
“We’ve got a news flash for Northam,” Gottlieb said in a prepared statement. “The killer in Virginia Beach had already passed multiple background checks, including an enhanced check to legally purchase a suppressor. The incident didn’t involve a so-called ‘assault weapon,’ but two handguns. There was no indication that the gunman was an extreme risk to anybody, and this awful event didn’t involve a child gaining access to any firearm.
“So tell us, Ralph,” the veteran gun rights advocate challenged, “just what part of your extremist gun control wish list do you think would have prevented what happened in Virginia Beach?”
Northam has been struggling to put a “blackface” scandal behind him. That surfaced earlier this year when a blackface image showed up in a medical school yearbook, allegedly showing a young Northam, who is now a physician. At first, the governor issued an apology, but then claimed it wasn’t actually him in the photo, as noted by USA Today.
Friday’s shooting left a dozen people dead. The gunman, identified as DeWayne Craddock, was fatally wounded in a shootout with responding police. Several days after the shooting, investigators are still trying to determine a motive. He was a civil engineer who actually had worked for the City of Virginia Beach for the past 15 years. Various reports say he had tendered his resignation earlier Friday, but people who saw him prior to the shooting did not indicate any alarming behavior.
According to Virginia authorities, the gunman legally purchased two handguns recovered at the crime scene some time ago. One was bought in 2016 and he bought the other one last year. He also legally purchased the suppressor that was attached to one of the two pistols.
“This was no spur-of-the-moment decision that might have been averted by any of Northam’s recommendations,” Gottlieb insisted, “including the governor’s one-gun-per-month purchase limitation scheme.”
Northam called a special session of the Legislature, declaring “We must give Virginians the action they deserve.”
According to USA Today, Northam “rejected claims that it is ‘too soon’ after the tragedy to address the issues.” Gottlieb pounced on that remark.
“It’s never too soon to show the emperor has no clothes,” he said. “Northam has dusted off the same ragged old gun prohibition agenda that has been proposed (in the past). None of the things he wants would have made even the slightest difference, and he knows it.”
Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox reportedly told CNN that majority Republicans will put forth their own proposals, which will apparently focus on tougher sentences for armed crime rather than slap new or revived restrictions on law-abiding citizens.
“While the Governor can call a special session, he cannot specify what the General Assembly chooses to consider or how we do our work,” Cox said in a prepared statement.
Cox recalled how lawmakers responded after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, taking a “deliberative approach” that produced bipartisan reforms.
“We believe addressing gun violence starts with holding criminals accountable for their actions,” Cox said, “not infringing on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. When the Special Session convenes, Republicans will put forward a package of legislation to stiffen penalties for those who use firearms to commit crimes, including mandatory minimum sentences. These steps, combined with our ongoing efforts to strengthen the mental and behavioral health system, are the best ways to keep our communities safe from those who commit violence with guns.”
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
Northam may have removed the black face, however his slave owner mentality is still there. Each and everyone of these proposals of his is that of someone that thinks he owns us
“The Bumpstock and Accessory Ban Precedent” has only just begun. The ‘Red Flag Laws’ all have just begun.
“I’ll say it again. We cannot increase our lot by ceding ground.” It is not us whom are guilty… well not most of us.
Only our leaders who commit these acts and those that say they are “us” that support it. GUILTY!!!!!
o
Unconstitutional laws are NULL and VOID, and are not to be obeyed. The Armed Civil Disobedience playing out in the many states that have passed these intolerable acts proves that it frightens the wannabe tyrants into inaction. Ever hear of “consent of the governed?” WE DO NOT CONSENT! Also, once again, this incident provides proof the the “Gun-Free Death-Zone” designation needs to go away. The only place I would make an exception is where there are metal detectors manned by armed guards, like court houses and federal buildings. I personally ignore the designation, even when I have to go to… Read more »
The Democratic Party is a ” cancer ” to our 2nd Amendment rights!
Another late term abortion politician from Virginia – that got away .
Gun violence? There is not such thing as “gun violence”. Inanimate objects can do NOTHING in or by themselves. It takes a PERSON to USE any item to harm others. These self-appointed IGNORANT RADICALIZED WANNABE PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS KNOW THIS FACT!!!!!!!!!
In the Federalist Papers of the Founders of OUR Republic understood this fact. The only advise they gave about disarming an individual was, “If a person is WANTON to harm others, he should not have ANY weapons.” That is the only piece of advice the Founding Fathers gave.
The INFRINGEMENT of LEGAL LAW ABIDING Americans MUST COME TO AN END.
No law(s) past, present or future will stop a man from trying to kill you.
He forgot about funding for Gun Buy Back programs. (Sure Jan).
Gov. is a total IDIOT.
Ralph Northam is doing nothing more than trying to grab our guns while trying to recover from his embarrassing Blackface incident in order to pat himself on the back. There isn’t one damn law that could be passed that would have prevented this man from killing all those people. A suppressor is mentioned as being used but we know they don’t make a gun go “psst” so it’s effectiveness isn’t proven. These opportunist politicians need to go and leave our rights and freedoms alone. An electoral college is needed in Virginia. because the liberals in NOVA have controlled every election… Read more »
Whatever graft and corruption was going on leaves 12 people dead. If it was not a Biden (gun free) zone it may not have been as bad or the perp would have thought twice about doing it. As far as the baby killer goes, he is a low level want to be power grabber. I listened to him speak and it is not hard to figure out that he is a room temp. IQ idiot. What mail order firm gave him a license to practice medicine? Yea Virginia, you sure did a good job at the last election, this guy… Read more »