Prior to yesterday's pro-gun rights demonstration in Richmond, the usual suspects in the media were spreading feverish, delusional rumors that our state capital was about to be overrun by white supremacist militias. Clearly, these so-called "journalists" were laying the groundwork for a Charlottesville 2.0 narrative -- paranoia the governor quickly legitimized by announcing a "state of emergency" designed to disarm any protester who made an appearance.
Oops. Turns out the "riot" was a giant nothingburger. Roughly 22,000 people showed up, and based on the reporting of those on the ground, there were no Nazis and no violent altercations -- despite the fact that, yes, many demonstrators were armed. Indeed, these supposedly dangerous protesters came with - brace for it - assault trash bags to pick up after themselves at the end of the rally. The horror!
As it turns out, we lawful gun owners are generally peaceful and compassionate citizens who simply value our ability to protect others when the police cannot. All memes aside, we don't actually want a boogaloo. We hope that the oft-stated theoretical reason for the Second Amendment - to protect our natural rights when we are denied recourse via the soap box and the ballot box - will never become relevant. And it won't so long as our state legislators listen to the concerns expressed by the dozens of county governments that have passed gun sanctuary resolutions in the past few months.
(Oh, and by the way: Folks of all sorts turned out to defend the 2A. Gun rights as a white supremacist dog whistle? Oh, please! Tell that to the guys wearing the "Black Guns Matter" shirts -- or the people waving the rainbow flags. Many who aren't "straight, white cis-men" understand that a gun is an excellent equalizing tool; I have a Facebook connection with a trans woman who offers gun education to members of the LGBT+ community for precisely this reason. No matter who you are, if you have a gun, you're less likely to be a victim.)
The party lean of our statehouse might've flipped, but that doesn't mean Virginia Democrats have a mandate to radicalize. No: we are still a southern state. I live in urbanized Northern Virginia currently, but I can get in my car right now, drive to my south or southwest, and within an hour, I'll find open countryside. And wherever there's open countryside, there's an established gun culture. If your goal is to govern the whole state, you can't discount those who live outside the urban clusters -- or, at the very least, you can't do so without generating a groundswell of potentially damaging resentment. New York and California should not be the examples Virginia follows.
BLATE - Don't believe the media lies about the gun rights movement. The governor had no justification for calling a "state of emergency" -- and if he wishes to regain even a little respect, he should call for moderation within his own party and can the threats.
