If there’s a state that better exemplifies the phrase “elections matter” than Virginia, I don’t know which state it would be.
While Democrats maintain control of Virginia’s General Assembly, pro-gun efforts helped propel Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin into office in January 2022. Since then, he has been the primary barrier between commonwealth gun owners and numerous highly punitive gun ban schemes.
Last March, Youngkin vetoed nearly 30 anti-gun bills that Democrats had pushed through the assembly, including a so-called “assault weapons” ban and a five-day waiting period for firearm purchases after a purchaser has passed the federal background check. Now, Youngkin is once again the final hope to avert disaster, as Democrats have sent another two dozen anti-gun measures to his desk before the legislative session adjourned on February 21.
Here’s a brief rundown of some of the worst measures.
SB 848 would raise the purchase age for certain semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and pistols to 21. Under federal law, adults aged 18 to 20 can legally buy long guns (rifles and shotguns), so this measure would directly infringe upon their freedom.
SB 880 would prohibit carrying certain semi-automatic centerfire rifles or shotguns on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way, or in any public park or other places open to the public. Such bans on carrying in specific areas often infringe on freedom, and if enacted, they are typically expanded to include more types of guns and additional areas.
SB 891 and its House companion HB1607 These proposals are rehashes of the waiting period bill passed last year but vetoed by Gov. Youngkin. They would impose an arbitrary five-day delay before a law-abiding citizen may take possession of a legally purchased firearm. As we’ve mentioned many times in the past, there is no evidence that waiting periods reduce suicides, homicides, or mass shootings. In fact, no studies identifying causal effects have been recognized by any of the independent literature reviews conducted since 2004.
SB 1134 would require firearms and ammunition to be stored in a locked container, compartment, or cabinet. While safe gun storage is an important part of responsible gun ownership, the freedom to choose how to store a self-defense firearm should always be left up to the owner.
Like SB 848, SB 1181 would prohibit law-abiding adults and individuals under the age of 21 from owning specific semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and pistols. Additionally, it would expand this prohibition to include firearms magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Lastly, SB 1450 and its House companion measure HB 1608 would introduce new ambiguous laws and restrictions in an effort to undermine the already heavily regulated firearms industry. It would also empower the attorney general or a district attorney to sue a member of the firearm industry by alleging violations and even potential violations of these laws, allowing individuals “likely to be harmed” to seek equitable relief from a court, which could cost gunmakers millions in legal fees.
Most Virginians understand how close they are to legislative disaster, and hopefully, Gov. Youngkin will come through for them again with another mass veto. However, at some point, they will need to figure out how to regain Republican control of the General Assembly. If they don’t and a Democrat is elected governor, there won’t be much left to stop all the anti-gun schemes from steamrolling commonwealth gun owners.
By all means, vetos away.
That said, the claim that “Most Virginians understand how close they are to legislative disaster…” is objectively untrue.
Were it true, the current situation wouldn’t have occurred.
In the past five or so years, three things were made glaringly clear to those willing to see:
1. More people than you want to imagine actually have a nice pair of jackboots in the closet that they’re simply waiting for the right time to put on. The Stasi’s preferred tactic can happen here, in fact, it did.
2. A huge percentage of people actually are anti-freedom in at least one major way. They like what they like and want that to be legal. If they don’t like it, they want it made illegal and they want the strength of the punishment to be commensurate with the strength of their dislike for the behavior in question.
3. Most people “who just want to be left alone” don’t pay much attention and are effectively sheep. While they may not have a pair of jackboots in the closet, with the right psychological priming and prodding, they’ll go buy a pair and enjoy it or allow someone else to place that jackboot on that sheep-y throat. Prod ’em right, and they’ll ask for boot and help you position it.
“Were it true, the current situation wouldn’t have occurred.”
Thinking two things can be true, at once. Such as a majority of “people” understand the dangers of potential anti-gun legislation, but choose not to vote against that legislation, nor the politicians who launch and enact that legislation.
The projected harm of anti-gun legislation is less likely to affect a person’s day-to-day life, and there are other matters of more perceived urgency. Not to mention the cohort who understand the danger, but who have given up trying to change outcomes.
“…understand the dangers of potential anti-gun legislation, but choose not to vote against that legislation…”
That’s called “supporting anti-gun legislation” in any other parsing of English. Ergo, they don’t see themselves as “close to disaster”.
“…and there are other matters of more perceived urgency.”
This is always the case, no matter how much the gun community doesn’t want to hear it. It’s also another example of people NOT seeing themselves as close to “legislative disaster” because 2A rights just aren’t that important in the big scheme.
The simple fact is that the majority of people don’t much care much about guns in most circumstances, nor do they care about “rights” in general that much. “Rights” are, what might you call them… a “political frivolity” to most people right up until it’s something they like.
The majority don’t like guns, at least not enough, for this to be a “disaster”, but that’s hardly shocking. If people really loved their church or freedom of association the way they claim, they’d have decorated the lampposts with the local LEOs in 2020. They didn’t, they stayed home and complained on the interwebz.
Which is exactly why none of the threats from 2020 have been resolved.
Sort of makes you wonder if Daniel Dafoe wasn’t right back in the first half of the 1700’s.
I gather that Defoe would find England quite familiar, today.
As a sane fedgov “divests” us of thousands the overpaid useless Klinton, Obumer, Obiden hirelings in the DC/N VA area, Virginia should see the benefit. Good luck to them.
It’s handed down residue from centuries of Gun Control Rot…you won’t hear that said on the floor of the VA congress….Why I do declare speaking the truth must not be proper.
pro-gun efforts helped propel Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin into office in January 2022
It was mostly anti-school gender indoctrination. Democrats got caught trying to cover up sexual assault. It was a dude that wore skirts and pretended to be a girl. He assaulted girls in the girls bathroom at school. They tried to cover it up because they were trying to make it official that boys could use the girls bathroom in schools.
Youngkin said that parents should be involved in what they’re teaching at schools (think no more queer gender theory garbage). His Democrat opponent, Terry McAuliffe famously stated, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” *That’s* how VA got a Republican Governor. It had nothing to do with pro-gun efforts.
“Assaulted” is a nice euphemism for buttrape/attempted buttrape.
Much of the school controversy was engendered by the right wing’s attempts to write the work of African-Americans out of the history books:
“The new board — at the urging of Jillian Balow, Youngkin’s handpicked state superintendent of public instruction — voted in August to delay consideration of these standards.
In November, Balow unveiled a redrafted set of history standards that critics said minimized the roles of minorities. For example, the standards omitted Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from holiday sections in elementary education, did not mention former President Barack Obama and referred to Native Americans as “America’s first immigrants.”
Fortunately, the revisionist history was pretty much rejected, but the attempt was a clear indication of the racist forces still at play in the commonwealth.
Dude’s right. It was mostly the left’s “government owns your children!” idiocy.
Youngkin Orders Virginia Police To Assist Trump Admin’s Deportation Operations.
h ttps://thefederalist.com/2025/02/28/youngkin-orders-virginia-police-to-assist-trump-admins-deportation-operations/
“Most Virginians understand how close they are to legislative disaster…”
As noted by others, I strongly disagree with this belief, otherwise we wouldn’t be where we are now. Spanberger is polling well ahead of Sears and, given the pathetic conservative turn-out during non-prez elections, I don’t think we have a chance.
Yup, I’m afraid Virginia is a lost cause – to re-coin a phrase. Given the resentment that’s most likely smoldering in northern Virginia due to the President carving away at the federal behemoth Virginia will probably go full blue during the mid-term. After that the Dems will dig in and do what they’ve historically done and VA will be California redux on the east coast. Sad to see but until the demographics swing away from the northern and Norfolk area blue blobs. Hopefully I’m wrong and the national trends will play out. But it isn’t likely.
All y’all are welcome here in Ohio – we’re happy to take like-minded refugees to counterbalance the blue minded knuckleheads from the north east who’ve shot our exurban and suburban property values through the roof.
The “blue creep” at the state and local level won’t stop until the Right figures out how to fight it effectively, which they haven’t.
Like mentioned above, Northern VA would benefit from an end to the Dem money printing machine. Is there any other densely populated area in the country that votes as one-sided as DC and the surrounding areas? We always knew why, but it’s even worse than we imagined.
“Is there any other densely populated area in the country that votes as one-sided as DC…”
Functionally, nearly every major city is essentially the same. If you lose by 40% or 15% is basically immaterial when you’ve spent 70 years showing you have no clue how to win in that area.
Unfortunately, I suspect that the ship of “outreach” has sailed.
So, when such people vote you into a digital ID/currency of a centralized and digital nature, don’t be shocked. All we need is a bit of a crisis and the whole Western world turns into a gulag real quick.
Then they will come for your guns, hard. And, if history is any guide, you will turn them in for some digital chits in the new Company Town.
Presidential election results for Dems:
Arlington Co 2020 80.6%, 2024 77.5% – Right beside D.C.
Fairfax Co 2020 69.9%, 2024 65.5% – Fairfax is the most populous county in VA (also beside D.C.).
Not VA, but the head of the beast: Washington D.C. 2020 92.2%, 2024 90.3%
I think there’s a lot of people in that region that are addicted to D.C. money. Republicans will never win those people over. Money talks.
Loudoun Co. is right beside Fairfax. It was the Loudoun Co. school board that tried to coverup that trans bathroom rape.
The richest counties (and independent cities) in the country based on median household income:
#1. Loudoun County, VA
#2. Falls Church, VA (independent city right beside D.C.)
#5. Fairfax County, VA
#10. Arlington County, VA
I’m not sure what you’re trying to say with election returns for these cities.
My point is the urban strongholds that constitute the Democrat base at this point and that R’s haven’t done much to change this. This may or may not change in VA based on Trump’s firings but at the national level it’s still a big problem and therefore a state-by-state problem too because major cities tend to have enormous control over a state.
Last time an R held Mayor:
Chicago: 1931
Los Angeles: 2001
New Orleans: 1872
Atlanta: 1879
St. Louis: 1949
Kansas City, Missouri: 1991
Austin: 1991
Denver: 1963
NYC: 2005 (arguably 2001 depending on how you feel about Bloomberg being a R when he started out)
Houston: 1982
Phoenix: 2003
Philadelphia: 1952
Boston: 1930
Columbus, OH: 2000
San Francisco: 1956
Note that this covers many of the largest cities in the US. Bright spots for competitiveness at this point are places like Jacksonville, FL and Indianapolis which are both in the largest 15 cities in the US and have recent R wins.
Of course we know that Dems dominate politics in most large urban areas. My point is that Northern VA is a unique spot in the country due to it’s proximity to DC. Therefore, DC politics and money has a strong influence on them. That’s a different animal. Four of the wealthiest areas in the country are right beside DC?! DC votes 90% plus for Democrats. That isn’t just some urban majority. There’s more to the story. It has to do with employment and enriching themselves from endless deficit spending.
There’s a reason DOGE’s existence is like a five-alarm fire for Democrats. That unethical spending is a major source of their power. If we want to limit their power and influence, then we attack the source. Consistently winning VA will be extremely difficult without doing that. Youngkin’s win was an outlier due to specific circumstances. Those circumstances won’t happen every election cycle.
Normally I’d give you a more detailed response here but I have to get on the road so I can be half way across the country in a couple of days. So no numbers or details for you on this one.
My point here is as follows: This is a major blow to strike, yes, but they have defense in depth that the Right is clearly either unaware of or unwilling to address. Failure to address the things that give them depth means you’ll breach the first wall and be turned back by the archers and the boiling oil at the second wall.
Their power is not in money, though that helps. It’s in people. The culture of a city is fundamentally different than that of a rural area. Until you make inroads into that where actual Conservatives can win in city elections, you’re not going to go very far along the other paths. 80% of Americans live in an urban or suburban setting.
The vast majority of both are not conducive to Conservatism at this point in time. What I mean by that is that in the US, post 2000 or 2008, corruption has wormed its way into everything to the point that it’s expected at this point.
Can a major change be made? Yes. By the people currently *in charge*? Brah, your stand up career ain’t going anywhere. Sorry to say it but you’re not going to make major inroads on this unless you can make inroads with the 40 and under crowd. And you’re not going to make inroads with them if you look like you might be a Boomer, sorry, facts. That well was poisoned long ago.
[Insert one of my explanations of the synthetic nature of Generational Warfare and the damage it has done here.]
It’s my considered opinion, having been on this 2A thing for nearly 20 years, that most “2A advocates” are myopic at best. They have no clue what the other vectors against their freedom are. The truth is that they’re defending their hobby. They don’t much care about actual freedom, they just want your mitts off of their hobby. Start summary executions of people on the street and they’ll support it as long as you give them an excuse that contains the right buzzword.
Which means that over time they will lose because they’ve shown that there’s basically no abuse so vile and outrageous that they will respond with those firearms, or force more generally.
While there’s nothing wrong with staying in the political realm, and I’m not advocating for violence, this does require playing the chosen game smartly because you’ve eschewed the alternative from the jump and your enemy knows this.
That puts you in the position of being a softy-parent. There’s no spankings on the table so you better have a plan where you won’t need them because the kids know you don’t have the stones to back up threats. That plan, frankly, doesn’t exist.
That’s not a situation which Conservatives are remotely prepared for. They don’t even know the threats and are shockingly naive about how their fellow people actually function.
As I’ve pointed out before, while Conservatives are crowing about many of Trump’s actions, or disappointed with them thus far (see Pam Bondi), the issues there mostly are “red meat for the base”. That’s a nice way of saying that they’re issues that only concern those who are, effectively, terminally online. 90% of people overall, don’t know and don’t care.
Gun rights fall into that category. As does free speech along with the rest of your rights. The vast majority care more about the price of groceries and gas than they do about basically anything else.
Dictators have known this for a very long time. It’s how they keep the lid on things. How are we blind to it? Because we’ve lived a very soft life since 1946, that’s how.
It’s so bad that we can’t even have rational conversations about this kind of thing. On the one hand we might look up to the Spartans but OTOH, we’re not close to prepared to do even a small fraction of what they did to achieve their place in history.
And that’s before we get to the potential that someone like Sarah Adams is right. That happens and you think your local cops are going to go looking for the terrorists or do you think they’ll take the path of least resistance, call you a threat to public safety and go after you?
We already know thanks to Katrina and Covid.
Which leaves the question of how to deal with such a thing. Obviously the answer is distributed response but that’s not going to happen either. Even right here on TTAG, you’ll get accused of carrying a “man purse” if you’ve got some gear to plug holes in people.
Magic talisman thinking is everywhere and the Right is no exception.
All of that can be true while, at the same time, it would probably be a lot easier to elect R’s in VA if it didn’t have DC right beside it.
I do not know why people feel the need to march up and down the street carrying military look a like rifles or shotguns.
Make it against the law to do that so then anyone you see doing that you can drive up along side of them role down your window and just start blasting.
You’d like to make OC of a rifle or shotgun that is a “military look a like [sic]” a capital offense?
Better idea, if you see people OCing long guns, drive on. Or, alternatively, suck start your CCW piece and hurry yourself off to where you belong in Hell.
Now we know for sure what kind of asshole you are. May you try that in a small town and reap the whirlwind.
It sounds to me like you don’t have self control, Xdd. Is there anything else we might need to know about you and your mental health?
Asking for a friend.
It sounds like trolling.
National Reciprocity Is Broken & Here’s Why.
(Colion): “National Reciprocity is supposed to protect your right to carry across state lines—but thanks to states like New Jersey, it’s completely broken.
New Jersey residents have to go through a bureaucratic nightmare just to exercise their Second Amendment rights, while non-residents from states with far easier processes can carry freely. How does that make sense?
🔴 Here’s what you’re up against in NJ:
✔️ Nearly $1,000 in fees just to get a carry permit
✔️ Endless paperwork & mandatory training just to exercise a constitutional right
✔️ One of the shortest permit renewal periods in the country
✔️ A system designed to discourage gun ownership instead of protect citizens
Meanwhile, a guy from Kentucky, who barely had to fill out a form, can carry in New Jersey without issue. That’s not how reciprocity should work.
And here’s the thing—the history of gun control has never been about safety. It’s always been about control. From the Black Codes after the Civil War to the 1968 Gun Control Act, restrictive laws have been used to disarm the “undesirables.”
📢 THIS is how they weaponize bureaucracy to strip away your rights. And if you think this only affects New Jersey, think again—once they get away with it in one state, they’ll try it everywhere.”
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvJ5DivBzZE
Multiple states issue carry permits to non-residents. So just get it in PA, WV or whatever then.
Sooo…a state resident needs to leave their home state to go to another state to exercise a constitutional right?
Well, that’s kind of like how the original colonists came here to get away from the kings of France, England, and elsewhere.
And then when those kings kept coming at them, the colonists decided to form their own government, codify their God-given rights in writing, ratify all that stuff, and then fight to keep it.
DId ATF Just Apologize For Its Trigger Fiasco?
“ATF is once again sending out letters related to certain triggers, but this time their tune is quite different. Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, discusses a letter that has been received now by at least 3 individuas who have contacted WGL to discuss this. But this time, instead of threatening individuals with prison time, the letter explains that ATF got pounded in court over this rule, that a court has enjoined it, and for that reason, there is NO REASON to contact ATF for anything related to triggers. ”
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVSOPvOc038
Gun Control’s Very, Very Bad Week.
“Gun control, or Civilian Disarmament, had a very bad week. There were multiple big wins for the Second Amendment and today Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, gets you up to speed on all of them.”
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foaS3s4rrsw
How Trump out-foxed the CIA, Zelenskyy, and Putin in the White House incident regarding Ukraine.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAK4298ANZo
(California) State Bill To Outlaw Self-Defense.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3xGtrMJVDA
BREAKING NEWS: GREAT 2A WIN IN “SENSITIVE PLACES” FIGHT.
A major 2A victory arose in Wyoming over a ban on gun free zones. Mark Smith Four Boxes Diner discusses.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Byswf9H7ww
Tulsi Gabbard Identifies Biggest National Security Threat, and It’s Not What We’ve Been Told.
h ttps://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2025/03/01/tulsi-gabbard-identifies-biggest-national-security-threat-and-its-not-what-weve-been-told-n4937452
English Is Spoken Here: We Finally Have a National Language Thanks to Trump Executive Order.
h ttps://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/03/02/english-is-spoken-here-trump-signs-order-making-us-one-of-181-of-195-nations-with-an-official-language-n2186174
Arizona is in a similar position, Dimwit Guvna and razor thin conservative advantage in the congress. Just one purple vote away from turning into Carizona. The wild west will soon mean when “men” show more cleavage to kids. God help us.
@strych9
“My point is the urban strongholds that constitute the Democrat base at this point and that R’s haven’t done much to change this.”
People love what Trump is doing, seemingly supposing Trump has unquestioned support in House and Senate. Instead, what we actually have is the second iteration of a one-term politician. Not seeing a wall of conservative legislation flowing from Congress, or much of any.
Everyone is waiting for the storm to blow itself out, and conditions return to normal: Dims working to rapidly destroy the nation as founded, with Republicrats wanting to arrive at the same point, only more slowly so they can attend all the cool parties for a longer time.
Yes, of course they’re waiting, but, BUT expectations will be different now for a new generation of people. Maybe they won’t be so okay with the party of “fiscal conservatives” and “small government” being the guys most likely to expand the government and increase our debt with little to nothing to show for it.
Resisting Trump was never just about getting Dems back into the win column. If that were the case, then why were R’s resisting the change? It was always about the fear of the American people (and the world) seeing that things could be done differently. These are the same people that would fight a Ukraine peace deal simply because they don’t want Trump to get a win. It’s funny how the Euros are suddenly interested in their own peace deal after three years of cheering on war. What changed?
“These are the same people that would fight a Ukraine peace deal simply because they don’t want Trump to get a win“
That’s laughable.
Trump’s peace’ deal is just bending over for Vladimir Putin, appeasing Russia by giving them whatever Ukrainian territory Putin desires.
The Republican administration can’t even admit Russia invaded Ukraine, all they can do is hem and haw and say “it’s complicated”.
Remember how well the policy of appeasement worked for Neville Chamberlain…
Trump’s peace’ deal is just bending over for Vladimir Putin, appeasing Russia by giving them whatever Ukrainian territory Putin desires.
Cite the details of that for me with a source. I haven’t heard of any plan defining boundaries.
The Republican administration can’t even admit Russia invaded Ukraine…
Factually incorrect, as usual. Trump literally just listed all of the times that Russia invaded Ukraine in the past eleven years, including the time they did it while Biden was president. Are you really that uninformed, or are you lying again? Why can’t you try to be honest for once in your life? Does “resisting” Trump and Republicans mean so much to you that you’re willing to lie or ignore reality?
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.”
“Remember how well the policy of appeasement worked for Neville Chamberlain…”
That was then, this is now. Brits were dumber, then. We are the smartest nation on the planet (or ever), so what happened before doesn’t burden us.
Besides, this time around, “we” have Hitler.
Special Note: It is not polite dinner conversation to remind people that conditions are more complicated than news headlines.
“Besides, this time around, “we” have Hitler.“
More accurately, I think Putin qualifies, instead of building a greater Germany he is attempting to rebuild the imperial Russian empire, using many of Adolph’s techniques.
The way Trump fetishizes dictators is amazing, and his admiration for Adolf reveals just another facet of his weak character.
“US, Russia and North Korea join forces to reject UN peace plan for Ukraine
Tom Sanders
Published February 24, 2025 7:01pm
Updated February 24, 2025 10:21pm“
Trump supporters are proud to join Russia and North Korea in opposing peace in Ukraine, amazing.
Trump supporters are proud to join Russia and North Korea in opposing peace in Ukraine, amazing.
Sometimes one might wonder how people could think that a man could get pregnant. These are people that have crafted their own make-believe world because reality is apparently too scary for them.
“the guys most likely to expand the government and increase our debt“
Yes, even the Republican leadership admits Donald Trump increase the budget deficit by $8 trillion:
“In the recent GOP primary presidential debate, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley claimed that President Trump added $8 trillion to the national debt while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that President Trump added $7.8 trillion to the debt. These statements are true, depending on how you measure additions to the debt. We estimate the ten-year cost of the legislation and executive actions President Trump signed into law was about $8.4 trillion, with interest.“
ttps://www.crfb.org/blogs/how-much-did-president-trump-add-debt
Yes. If you’ve read my comments over the years, then you know I was adamantly against the insane levels of spending that Trump signed off on. It’s something I feel so strongly about that it made me feel sick because I understood the implications of it.
Are you agreeing with me, Miner? No, you’re only trying to win the moment, as usual. You never complained about the insane levels of spending that the Puppet signed off on because you’re really nothing more than a shallow partisan with no principles.
“Are you agreeing with me, Miner?“
If you think Donald Trump’s insane tax cuts for the wealthy in the 2017 was a mistake, yes then I do agree with you.
The wealthy don’t need a tax cut, they have made an insane amount of money in a marketplace built by millions of Americans over 200 years and they should pay their fair share commensurate with the benefits this market has granted to them.
In other words, you’re for insane, wasteful levels of spending. Look at our history of revenue vs spending. We don’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. You don’t understand that because you don’t want to understand that.