Virginia – -(AmmoLand.com)- The third year after a presidential election doesn’t get a lot of attention. After all, there are only two governors’ races that headline results on the first Wednesday after the first Monday. But there are many other races decided on this coming election day.
Included in them are the state legislative elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia. There are 100 members of the House of Delegates and 40 members of the State Senate, and all 140 of those seats are up for grabs this year. This could matter a great deal for Second Amendment supporters.
Why? Because the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate are controlled by Republicans, and the Republican leadership is pro-Second Amendment. This mattered, because in the wake of a tragic shooting in Virginia Beach, that leadership successfully put the kibosh on Ralph Northam’s effort to advance an anti-Second Amendment agenda in response to the shooting.
These elections are going to be tougher than we might expect. Litigation has led to new district maps drawn by a professor in California for the 2019 election, and these lines are much friendlier to anti-Second Amendment extremists. As a result, we could see pro-Second Amendment majorities wiped out – and worse, the new leadership controlling the General Assembly in Virginia will be ardent foes of our rights, eager to rubber-stamp the injustices that Northam sought to inflict upon law-abiding citizens in the wake of the Virginia Beach shooting.
This is a disaster in more ways than one. While one more state adopting anti-Second Amendment laws is bad enough, Virginia is a special case, since the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America are both headquartered there. Many of those who would work for the NRA or GOA are likely to own the modern multi-purpose semi-automatic firearms that Northam wants to ban. This means that the talent pool for these groups will be greatly depleted, even as the full-spectrum fight that Second Amendment supporters are facing requires that the best talent be hired for the fight for our freedoms.
Now, hiring that talent will be more difficult to do, and the successful hires will be more expensive. Worse, the sheer propaganda victory that passing Michael Bloomberg’s wish list in the state where NRA and GOA are based in will be significant as well. This is largely due to the fact that Second Amendment supporters are losing the suburbs, largely due to their failures to have pro-Second Amendment solutions to concerns their fellow Americans have and to keep in mind how their Second Amendment support comes across.
The news is not all bad. Non-Second Amendment issues could take the fore, including the impeachment effort against President Trump. The 1998 mid-terms saw a backlash against the impeachment of Bill Clinton on much stronger evidence than there is against Trump. In addition, Second Amendment supporters could have an opening via Kanye West, who has expressed support for our rights. This could change things in urban areas, and affect statewide races.
In addition, next year, the Supreme Court could shift the legal and political landscape with its ruling on New York City’s regulations. But the real key to keeping Virginia a pro-Second Amendment state is going to be a lot of hard work by Second Amendment supporters. We must effectively use our First Amendment rights to save our Second Amendment rights.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
Leadership who fall into the “anti-gun” category are consuming a fantasy for profit. Gun Control is a fictitious advent by the Democrats/Globalists that creates it’s own problems and the cycle continues and escalates exponentially. (it’s a cash cow) The idea that criminals and madmen will ever “abide by law” is a fallacy. The idea that “banning all guns and their components” would stop attacks by said criminals and madmen is yet another fallacy. Gun Control like Climate Change is a Democratic National Committee cash cow: both are endless unsolvable endeavors. What do you do when you want an endless supply… Read more »
They don’t care about fighting CRIME in any state… Laws are made for LAW ABIDING citizens, NOT criminals, and that is a FACT !
I can answer your QUESTIONING TITLE. The answer is very simple. The answer is NO! All of the over 25,000 Second Amendment INFRINGMENT “laws” are all for SHOW! YET! These same “politicians” are LAX on CRIMINALS which COMMIT these RADICALIZED ACTS OF TERROR. Even the Police SCREAM the current “judicial system” is nothing but a “merry-go-round” or “catch and release” program by the RADICALIZED LEFTIST judges!!!!!!
I heard Mark Walters on Armed American Radio yesterday talk about Lapierre. Mark’s theory was that Lapierre is thinking “If I can’t have the NRA for myself, then no one can have it.” Something like that. Bottom line was the Lapierre is holding onto his position and sucking the life (and cash) out of the organization until it dies. The idea sounds outrageous at first, but it is consistent with what we’re seeing. It will probably be a year or more before the impact of non-renewals of memberships is felt, since NRA will not accept cancellations and issue refunds of… Read more »
Sorry Harold you still don’t get it. The NRA is responsible for 99.99% of the major gun control passed in this nation over the last 100 years. The NRA is irrelevant at this point. And while I do have concern for GOA, they run A MUCH LEANER OPERATION than the NRA ever dreamed of. Leaner and FAR more efficient. But we’re WAY past what you’re thinking of, Harold. You’re a day late and a dollar short. WE’RE NOW at the “WILL NOT COMPLY” stage!! Simply put, pissed off REAL AMERICANS will no longer obey unconstitutional and tyrannical NON-LAWS. I say… Read more »
If we lose our slim majority in Va. Northam and the democrats will gleefully ram the worst gun control we have ever seen down our throats! All good and moral people must vote against the evil democrats!