virginia gun rights capitol
(Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
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Terry Santure, of Norfolk, Va., carries an AR-style firearm during a gun rights rally at the State Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press

More than 200 gun rights activists wearing “Guns SAVE Lives” stickers rallied Monday in Virginia, vowing to fight any attempt by the new Democratic majority in the state legislature to pass new restrictions on gun ownership.

The “God. Family. Guns” rally was held just a month before the General Assembly is set to begin a session that is almost certain to include a variety of gun control proposals, including requiring universal background checks for gun buyers, prohibiting the sale of assault weapons and a ‘”red flag” law allowing police or family members to petition a court to temporarily take away guns from people who may present a danger to themselves or others.

Those who attended the rally said such gun-control measures would do little to reduce mass shootings and other crimes, but instead would punish responsible gun owners.

John Dickenson, of Powhatan, Va., holds a sign during a gun rights rally at the State Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

“Hands off our guns, hands off our rights, and hands off our guns,” said Bob Good, a member of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors.

Good said he hoped the rally would send a message to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and state lawmakers to stop them from passing laws with “unconstitutional gun restrictions.”

The rally was held at the State Capitol as officials in dozens of Virginia counties pass resolutions declaring themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries.” Good said Campbell County was the second county in the state to pass such a resolution. Since Democrats won majorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates in November, more than 40 localities have voted for sanctuary status, which they say amounts to a pledge to refuse to enforce any unconstitutional gun laws.

Gun rights advocates pray during a rally at the State Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Bob Sadtler, 51, of Richmond, said he attended the rally because he treasures the Second Amendment and is concerned that the laws proposed by Democratic lawmakers will hurt legitimate gun owners but do nothing to stop violent crime.

“In America, you do not punish everyone for the acts of the individual,” he said. “These bills don’t affect criminals. Criminals ignore the law.”

Gun-control proposals in Virginia have failed in the past under the Republican-controlled legislature.

Democrats revived their call for gun restrictions in May, after a city employee shot and killed 12 of his co-workers at a municipal building in Virginia Beach. After the shooting, Northam scheduled a special legislative session on gun control measures. Republicans quickly ended the session and accused the governor of trying to use the tragedy for political gain.

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96 COMMENTS

  1. Good luck folks! We thought we could stop it with a huge show of solidarity, the noisy minority along the the liberal legislators eventually won.

    • Stop it. This comment (which, unfortunately, has seen a revival here at TTAG) is the same sentiment the Left wants of us. They want us out of their way, whether subjugated or dead. For any of us the mouth the same mantra is to act along the same lines.

      We’re better than this. We must educate and bring them over to the POTG one person at a time. Take a curious newbie to the range. Talk, but don’t shout. Encourage and educate while standing your ground.

      But don’t ever, ever say they’re better off dead just because you disagree with them. That’s what they want you to say, so they can justify their Red Flag laws.

      • If your enemy has a winning strategy, use it. Clinging to losing a strategy is idiotic. Being reasonable and peaceful has been taken as nothing but weakness.

        • I have to agree with ‘I Haz’ – that antagonizing the non-gun owning voters who will ultimately determine the laws makes no sense. And don’t think for a second that the 2nd Amendment is beyond repeal – all it takes is a generational swing (which seems to be happening) for the anti-gun movement to hit a tipping point and result in a constitutional repeal of the 2A.

          Pretend for a moment that you had no knowledge of guns except that all you hear about is shootings, guns used in crimes and home invasions, etc. And all you hear from the media is that gun owners – assuming you don’t know any – are a bunch of wannabe Rambos who wear camo and get off on carrying their AR15’s over their shoulder to show off in putblic – and then you see a comment about them wishing death on someone. Honestly, would that make you want to vote for pro-gun candidates? I doubt it!

          The best thing we can do is give positive narratives and acknowledge that we also want our kids and families to be safe in their schools or in the theaters. Suppose WE came up with TRULY RESPONSIBLE gun laws that would impact criminals and crazies rather than the vast majority of us who are law-abiding. The solutions are out there, but everyone on both sides are too busy making noise and posturing.

          The main difference is that the anti-gun movement is very well organized and speaks with one voice while we spend our time arguing and calling each other ‘fudds!’

        • It would be wonderful to educate the anti-gun liberals. Have you tried talking to a liberal??? Their arrogance is only superseded by their hypocrisy, lack of compromise and understanding!!! WE THE PEOPLE have been playing the waiting game for too long! We have sat back and watched the slow but steady erosion of our civil rights. The problem now is that the liberals are no longer happy with the occasional city or county rape of the 2nd amendment! They want a total ban on firearms in America and if anyone thinks that is not the case, is a fool. Just look at the insane left wing nuts getting in the race for president. They are announcing to the world ghat they will take our guns! When the libiots take a stand, you have to take it serious because never take a stand on anything, that jeopardizes their future political aspirations? They sure as hell ain’t out to help America or American citizens! This attack on the 2nd amendment, the political corruption in DC, the liberal contempt for law and the social/fascist/communistic ideas of the modern liberals is drawing the line in the sand. The liberals vehement attacks on non-liberals and their willingness to use violence, to suppress dissenting opinions ie. attacking non-liberal rallies! They are “burning” anti-liberal agenda in all forms of media! The rich liberals are using their money and corporations to suppress all non-liberal ideology especially in social media and by controlling most internet search engines! They are feeding liberal shit to our children in our schools and across the internet! Eventually our children and even now, there are people that seem to believe anything they see or are told on the web. With no compromise and as selfish as liberals are! We are heading for major conflict! As I’ve said before, “When the good law abiding citizens of America lose faith in Congress and lose hope for the future, bad things will happen,”

        • I’m confused. Ever since Trump was elected I’ve been hearing about how much ‘we’ are winning. Is that not the case?

        • Hannibal that is a red herring argument. We are winning — big time –in comparison to how it would be if he had lost white house, in that we are getting way more gun friendly people on the courts, and the other side knows that gun substantive control legislation they want wont go anywhere unless they defeat him in 2020.

          If Hillary had won she would have already put over 200 gun banners on the federal courts — including two on the Supreme court and we would already see even Heller and McDonald “revised.”

          Just a couple of senate seats and the White House stand between the second Amendment’s life or effective death. And every day that goes by without RBG retiring increases the likelihood that it is the other side losing one, but Thomas going under a Dem White House.

          We all know that there is a fair amount of inaccuracy in polling on gun issues, but that doesn’t change the fact that here is also clearly a trend going the wrong way in the public as well.

        • WTF TIL? We’re winning only because we’d be losing if someone else had won? I call BS. Trump took a dump on gun rights and somehow convinced right-leaning idiots that things are better under him. If Hillary had won we would be unified and a force to be reckoned with. Instead we’re a pile of headless chickens marching around like tin soldiers.

          Your argument is as lame as wall street claiming a profit because it’s losing less money than projected. So keep investing!

        • With an honest and transparent president like Donald Trump in control, America is bound for glory!

          “In the 2000s, Trump began to use the charity in ways that benefited himself or his businesses, according to the attorney general’s lawsuit. He used the charity’s cash to buy paintings of himself and sports memorabilia and to pay $258,000 in legal settlements for his for-profit clubs.
          Charity leaders are barred from using their nonprofits’ money for personal benefit.
          Trump also used the charity to boost political campaigns — first, Pamela Bondi’s Florida attorney general campaign, and then his own 2016 campaign. Trump gave away Trump Foundation checks onstage at rallies, despite strict rules barring nonprofit charities from participating in political campaigns.”

          “Why don’t we just take the guns and worry about the courts later!”

          Trump is so full of honesty and integrity that he needs to flush 10 to 15 times.

      • How about both/and?

        The Democratic party and all its “progressive” activism needs to die, and we can’t be super picky about how it happens.
        AND…
        There are a lot of normal people out there who can be reached by friendly conversations and fun trips to the range.

        We can pursue the same end in two very different ways.

        • The Democratic Party is going to die, mostly from self-inflicted wounds. The downside is the Progressives aren’t going to die with them, and I think they will either take over the Democratic Party or split off and start their own. Most likely the latter.

          Either way, the Democrats, as we know and love them so much, are finished. Careful what you wish for — what emerges on the far side of all this could be much worse than what we have now. Hard to imagine, but it could work out that way.

      • I Haz a Question,

        We must educate and bring them over to the POTG one person at a time.

        That would be great if most Progressives are reasonable and honorable people who are simply misinformed. Unfortunately, I do not believe that to be the case.

        I know a teenage girl in high school recently who discretely expressed disapproval of the 1960s gay-rights movement during a movie on various civil rights movements of the 1960s in United States History class. Multiple classmates leveled credible death threats against her within 7 minutes on social media platforms.

        Those students already knew that credible threats to murder someone for not having the same opinions was seriously problematic on multiple levels. And do you know what the solution was? It wasn’t sitting down to have a nice, educational conversation with them. The solution was major force. In less than an hour, the school resource officer gave them an ultimatum: apologize and leave that teenage girl alone OR GO TO PRISON FOR FIVE YEARS FOR FELONY AGGRAVATED ASSAULT (or whatever the specific crime was). Those students apologized, enjoyed being suspended from school for a week, and never made a peep to that teenage girl ever again.

        As my dad used to say, some people only understand/respect one message: your will and ability to beat them to a pulp or put them in the ground if they try to #@$% you up. We must be prepared to do just that to anyone, including Progressive voters, who threaten to ruin our lives for righteously exercising our God-given, inalienable rights.

        By all means, we should exhaust all reasonable measures to achieve success through peaceable methods. And we should be willing and able to go “hands-on” to secure our lives if peaceable means fail.

        And always remember the difference between Progressives who are willing to be violent and our side who is willing to be violent:
        (1) Progressives are willing to use violence to eliminate our God-given, inalienable rights.
        (2) Our side is willing to use violence to stop anyone who seeks to eliminate our God-given, inalienable rights.

        In other words Progressives are the offenders and we are the defenders. That makes their actions evil, and our actions righteous.

        “Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” Proverbs 25:26

        • “Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” Proverbs 25:26

          ****
          While I appreciate your reply, I disagree on your application of Scripture that references something totally different than what I originally commented on above. I clearly said “…while standing your ground”, which is the opposite of “giving way before the wicked”.

        • I Haz a Question,

          Suppose the following:
          (1) You are a parent of a teenage daughter.
          (2) A violent criminal armed with a knife breaks down your door.
          (3) That violent criminal grabs your teenage daughter.
          (4) That violent criminal says he will slash/stab anyone who tries to stop him.
          (5) That criminal announces his intention to rape your daughter.

          If you explain to that criminal righteous behavior, unlawful behavior, and their impact on society, you have certainly taken a stand. And you will fail to stop that criminal from raping your daughter. And that means you will have given way before the wicked.

          There are times where words fail. Thankfully, God graciously allows us to use force to defend ourselves if/when that time comes. As the Apostle Paul so aptly stated, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Romans 12:18 Notice that Paul did NOT tell us to always live peaceably no matter what someone else does to us.

        • uncommon,

          Um, that is in no way related to what I said. You spun off onto a bunny trail that disappears into the woods and have unsuccessfully tried to point back to me for your decision to do so.

          Someone attacking your daughter? You do what you need to do to protect her, period.

          Someone pointing a gun at her? A reasonable person would assume the gun’s loaded and would respond accordingly. As such, this moron in the article was pointing guns at people, which is at the very least reckless endangerment.

          Not much room for confusion with that, so I’m not sure how you managed to do it.

        • Suppose WE came up with TRULY RESPONSIBLE gun laws that would impact criminals and crazies rather than the vast majority of us who are law-abiding. The solutions are out there, but everyone on both sides are too busy making noise and posturing.

          US gun homicide rate today is about half of what it was 25 years ago. So we have a solution, the long term trends on violent crime are down as guns increased. In fact it is 38 US cities — everyone of them long run by Democrats — that drive the sole elevation of average US homicide rates over international averages.

          why would “we come up with more gun laws” when the data show reducing them reduces murder due to the objectively proven fact that guns are used more often to prevent crime than commit crime?

          Why do you say “‘gun laws” that would impact criminals? Why not just more enforcement of ALL laws. I had someone in my family murdered by a guy with a knife and a long long criminal record.

        • Uncommon sense, you concisely but precisely defined the situation. That’s it. No more explanation necessary. “Gentlemen, that’s how it is…”

        • The only way to “live peaceably with all” (to have a peaceful life) is to apply violence occasionally in a righteous manner. A conundrum, I know, but it is the way of the world. Depend upon it.

      • You will never convince a power-mad politician to stop grabbing for more power. It’s like asking a bear to stop doing whatever the hell it wants to do. Completely ineffective. Doesn’t even understand what you’re saying.

        Having said that, the better course of action is to get all of your friends and neighbors, family members (yes, even the ones you don’t particularly like) co-workers, church and social acquaintances, everyone who supports gun rights and get them to actually show up to vote the Dems out of the office. Drive them so far out of Richmond that they lose power completely. That will help them remember not to mess with the POTG for another ten or twenty years.

      • You know what politicians do to groups they are scared of? They give them whatever they want.
        They have no fear of consequence when treading on our rights, so they do it with impunity.

      • That’s exactly what the libiots are doing. Liberals DO NOT CARE!!!!! They are worse than Muslims! If you don’t agree with them then you should die?? Have you not seen how ANTIFA and BLM act??? Have you not seen the average libiot at Trump or 2nd amendment rallies?? LIBERALS DO NOT CARE!!! If every non-liberal died today, there would be liberals rejoicing in the streets tomorrow?? Look at inner city kids/gangs and you see the modern mentality! The selfishness, entitlement, victim mentality, greed and HATE have created a generation or two of uncaring, narcissistic People that DO NOT CARE about their own lives much less anyone else’s! We have kids growing up playing video games that reward violence, theft and murder! Kids have become numb to violence and death. I’m not blaming games as much as I am worthless or absentee parents! Every day it seems like our political leaders are breaking laws with no consequences. Our kids saw Obama stand up and announce that what he was doing was illegal but he still signed an illegal executive order to allow millions of illegals to stay in America!!! If two groups of people can’t even follow the laws of the land and our constitution, then how the hell can we continue to live side by side????

        • what’s with the hate on videogames? depictions of violence have been widespread within human entertainment since the dawn of man. stop hating on videogames just because they are the newest medium to introduce it and doesn’t appeal to you.

          violence is built into human nature to survive. but any human with an ounce of rational thought will know that we live in a very peaceful time and that violence in most applications isn’t necessary in modern society. recreation is an outlet for that nature, it doesn’t create a mob of murderers.

      • “Sorry, but you are wrong. There’s no such thing as a good Democrat.”

        I dunno, Ralph.

        I’d say a Democrat in end-stage pancreatic cancer is a good Democrat.

        Reaping the fruits of what they have sewn with their ‘cult of evil’… 🙂

    • I’ll help you:
      The only good democrat, is a phony republican who played you all like a violin. A guy who openly mocked conservatives a while ago. A farce who claims he is going to drain the swamp, while he chooses people from the swamp for his administration. That’s a heck of a democrat.

        • And how is that working for you? Local politicians are mocking the SCOTUS and Constitution, the restrictions on the 2A being the perfect example.

        • Which will not really matter in the end, judges don’t write laws. Even Florida has passed several anti gun laws recently (following the school shooting in Broward Cty).

  2. Given Virginia’s rich history of gun rights and ownership, I wonder how many gun owners in that state didn’t bother to vote?

    The reason for the question is not condemnation (although there could be some!! LOL) – It’s really about finding out how much of a political threat gun owners are to the Democrats. in other words:

    – If it can be shown that a high percentage of pro-2A folks didn’t bother voting, that would be a significant block for the next election that will be motivated, and could be used as a threat to the Dems if they pass bad gun laws.

    – However, if there WAS a huge turnout of gun owners and they still lost, then there probably isn’t much hope to reverse the anti-gun agenda in the state.

    It would be interesting to find out.

    • Democrats have been stacking the deck by bringing in foreigners to out vote Americans. It’s why California is deep blue and used to be Red and why Texas will soon be purple.

      • “Democrats have been stacking the deck by bringing in foreigners to out vote Americans.”

        Any evidence of foreigners voting in American elections that you would care to share to back up your assertion?

    • They will tell Ralph what to sign and when. He will do as commanded lest he end up like the other VA governor, broke and almost in jail.

    • Northam is requesting a grandfather and registration clause in the latest AWB bill to cover for Dems and GOP in toss-up districts.

      GOP? NO. You really don’t know Virginia. No GOP legislator is going to vote for even a grandfathered AWB.
      In Va. this is 100% partisan except for a couple of Dems in close districts.

  3. I look at it this way –

    They are about to pull that stunt (gun control) just a loud shout from SCOTUS.

    Who currently have a 2A case in front of them.

    I visualize Clarence Thomas cracking open his morning newspaper to see a headline *Blaring* Virginia’s disrespect to the 2A. And saying to himself “What part of “shall not be infringed” do you not understand, motherfuckers? Perhaps strict scrutiny will impress that on your sorry ass!”

    (I can dream, can’t I?)

  4. “more than 200”?

    That says alot. If they wanted to make an impact, they needed thousands, perhaps 10’s of thousands. 200? I doubt many in the building even knew they were there.

    Still, this is understandable. I’m in CA and I know exactly how they feel. We dont even try to defend our gun rights in CA anymore, there really is no point. Gun rights in my state, and many others, will likely end up being defended by the gun, not by the ballot box.

    Many people, myself included, have lost faith in the vote. We are largely disenfranchised by the urban centers and do not believe that there is anything we can do to win this fight through elections.

    • The people HAVE turned out in the THOUSANDS. At this time, 59 counties and towns (almost half of 95 counties and 38 cities/towns in Virginia) have turned out in record numbers at board of supervisor and council meetings and have soundly rejected this tyranny!

      Could election turnout have been better…yes. Is this 20/20 hindsight…yes. Are rights still being violated…YES!
      But NO ONE should have to jump through hoops to have their basic human rights honored. Yet, here we are!

      • I couldn’t agree with you more. But we have to keep in mind that the other side feels the same way: That is, that they fee they shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to have their basic human rights honored. The difference is that they view their right as the right to be alive and not be shot.

        My point is that they will make the same argument, only far more emotionally than we will, and it will (and has) have an impact on public policy. The problem is that we suck at providing facts, and as a whole, and we often come across as people who care more about our guns than about the safety of kids and other innocents. It’s obviously a false image but this is a PR war that we need to win and TWO QUOTES COME TO MIND – that, unfortunately, we often get backward:

        1) TEDDY ROOSEVELT: “Speak softly but carry a big stick!”

        2) JESUS (Matthew 10:16): “Be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove…”

        Instead, we seem, too often, to make a lot of noise and say dumb stuff without a lot of wisdom. I wish we could turn that around!

        (Just my two cents!)

        • I hear you Jeff. But I seriously don’t care about being polite to anyone set on depriving me or mine of our rights. The socialist zealots don’t matter to me, the demanding mommies don’t matter, the out of state money interests don’t matter to me. If your feelings are all butthurt over my freedom, it will not matter to me.

        • “If your feelings are all butthurt …”
          Not “your” feelings Jeff. I’m confident we’re on the same page.

        • Baldwin, I assume that was what you meant – and we are definitely on the same side. I’m guessing we’re just approaching the same goal from different directions. Sadly, the entire gun issue is no longer based on facts, but on raw emotion and anger – by both sides – which means any chance of communication is pretty much shot.

          There’s a really interesting LIBERAL gun website (www.theliberalgunclub.com). What attracted was two-fold:

          1) The fact that there really are Liberals who are also staunchly pro-2A and are disgusted with their leadership (but they hate Trump and Conservatives more than they hate their politicians, so theyre in a quandry).

          2) More importantly, their focus is on “Root Cause Mitigation” which is exactly the stance that pro-gunners SHOULD be focused on. That is, that the issue is NOT the gun or the bump stock, or magazine capacity, but it’s the underlying social issues that are in play that need to be fixed.

          It’s an interesting website, and if you follow them on Facebook, you’ll get some interesting insights from the perspective of Democratic gun owners. They’re as frustrated as we are, but they don’t trust us to work together any more than we trust them! (And yeah, I paid the $10.00 annual fee to join the club so I could follow their conversations on Facebook).

        • There’s a really interesting LIBERAL gun website (www.theliberalgunclub.com). What attracted was two-fold:
          1) The fact that there really are Liberals who are also staunchly pro-2A and are disgusted with their leadership (but they hate Trump and Conservatives more than they hate their politicians, so theyre in a quandry).
          2) More importantly, their focus is on “Root Cause Mitigation” which is exactly the stance that pro-gunners SHOULD be focused on. That is, that the issue is NOT the gun or the bump stock, or magazine capacity, but it’s the underlying social issues that are in play that need to be fixed.

          sorry Jeff but liberal gun club is virtually dead. I myself am liberal or libertarian on several issues.
          As far as root cause mitigation, I don’t support more social programs for adults but I sure do support more resources in education, nutrition for children — especially at risk kids and kids in or near poverty. But I also know while second chances are one thing, it is the third and fourth chances and low sentencing/time served in liberal areas that drives US murder stats and violent crime.

          I’m a data driven person. And it is clear fro the data that support for the Second Amendment has become 100% partisan. Yes it used to be mostly partisan, but today it is the most partisan aligned issue in US politics as evidenced by about 70,000 data points. don’t forget we have 100 legislative bodies inthe US and about 8,000 legislators, so we do have the data from votes on legislation, amendments, in committees and bodies as a whole across the US). More so than gay marriage, climate .

          liberal gun owners groups are FULL OF FUDDS, saying “I hunt and therefore I know” and are stalking horses for allowing draconian and nasty gun control

  5. Good said he hoped the rally would send a message to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and state lawmakers to stop them from passing laws with “unconstitutional gun restrictions.”

    This has about as much chance for success as a rally asking the mafia to be kinder and nicer.

    The only difference between the mafia and Virginia’s government is that Virginia’s government operates mostly out in the open and is occasionally subject to majority will.

    • Sure there is! Try to build Grassroots support for an Electoral College election scheme in CA. This will allow all districts to be more equally represented. It may fall on it’s face, but at least you tried! From what I can see, the southern half of CA is blue, the northern half red. I’d suggest looking around for like-minded folks and try to build that support that you need to take back your state!

      • Not so easy there. Northern Ca starts at Bakersfield, many points north of that are totally liberal. Urban Ca is liberal, mostly followed by suburban Ca. People who can show their families were here before WWII are overwhelmingly pro-gun

        • Not even close. SoCal stretches from San Diego to the Grapevine/Tejon Overpass. Central CA stretches from Bakersfield up through the lower edges of Sacramento & San Francisco. North of that, and all the way to the Oregon border, is NorCal.

          An arguable fourth part of CA is the Central Coast, or Santa Barbara up to Half Moon Bay.

          Born and raised here. Traveled the entire state all over. Bakersfield is a city you just drive through on the way to somewhere else more worth your time.

  6. well darn, if i’d known i might’ve gone.

    Knowing the Times-Disgrace, their camera guy spent a lot of time framing his photos to show as few non-whites as possible.

  7. “In America, you do not punish everyone for the acts of the individual.”

    Newsflash: as far as Progressives are concerned, anyone who disagrees with them IS a criminal. Thus all firearm ownership advocates are “criminals” and deserve whatever infringements/punishments which government metes out for them.

  8. All of this back and forth on the Soap Box, Ballot Box, and Jury Box, is merely foreplay in anticipation of a yet to be determined date for the opening of the Bullet Box and the action to begin.

    • “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.”

  9. Nothing really to do with the article other than idiotic leftism, and we were just talking about this the other day. ‘They’ is announced as word of the year.

    “Back in September, the Merriam-Webster dictionary added a new definition of the word “they,” including its use “to refer to a single person whose gender identity is non-binary.”

    And now, “they” has just been chosen as Word of the Year for 2019.

    It’s that time of the year for dictionaries to release their annual word, with “existential,” “climate strike,” “climate emergency,” and “cancel culture” claiming the title elsewhere as 2019 words of the year.”

    https://mashable.com/article/merriam-webster-word-of-the-year-2019/

    The same people pushing this on us wants disarm the people (outside of the government) and pick and choose who has the right to speech.

    • I believe there was a book written about all this, once…The powers that be destroyed “useless” words and replaced them new words, or changed the meaning of old words…

        • If you look in the appendices of 1984 about the evolution of “Newspeak”, it is referred to in the past tense “was” and not the present tense “is”, so Newspeak must have been abandoned after a major political event.

        • Yes, we can agree 1984 was written by a prophet. I’m so glad that you guys have recognized the genius of Eric, he certainly was misunderstood during his lifetime but now I’m glad to see you folks agreeing that he was a prophet, who saw a clear vision of the dangers of the right wing capitalists.

          “Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950),[1] better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist and essayist, journalist and critic.[2] His work is characterised by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.”

          Yes, George Orwell was an SJW, and his books were perceptive treatises on human nature and the dangers of authoritarian leaders like Donald Trump and his deceptive ‘statesmanship’.

        • Except democrats are the ones trying to fulfill his dystopian vision of an authoritarian state. Compare and contrast Trump’s policies with the likes of Harris, Bloomberg, and Sanders, and it’s clear who is for freedom and who is against it. It is the democrats that are trying to do away with the first and second amendment, not the republicans or Trump.

        • Dude, more of this information, even doublethink.

          The Republicans have always been the architects of the surveillance state, the patriot act was sponsored by the Republicans and sound in the hall by George W Bush.

          The real ID act, with its restrictive requirements that disenfranchised thousands of seniors, was written by republican legislators, Jim Sensenbrenner was the major architect.

        • The USA patriot act was
          Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 3162 by Jim Sensenbrenner (R–WI) on October 23, 2001.

          Remember when the Republicans hoodwinked all you right wingers into believing that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 911? And how everybody was marching around, singing patriotic songs, waving the flag?

          And people like me who spoke against Bush’s war of lies were called traitors, and laughed at?

          Well, the Republicans fooled you guys into signing away much of your privacy, all in the name of safety. That’s with the patriot act was and that’s with the real ID act was.

          And now we all know the Iraq war was, as president Donald Trump says, “the greatest mistake this country has ever made”.

        • Miner, our main political difference is that you’re a bitter partisan. I’m not. I speak out routinely against republicans and their policies. The Patriot Act is an abomination and needs to go. I don’t care who came up with it. It continues to get bipartisan support to this day. See for yourself. Why is Nancy and Co. supporting this?

          http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?541262-Sneak-Vote-On-Patriot-Act-Renewal-Today-11-19-2019

          “Today, while everyone is distracted by the impeachment drama, Congress will vote to extend warrantless data collection provisions of the #PatriotAct, by hiding this language on page 25 of the Continuing Resolution (CR) that temporarily funds the government. To sneak this through, Congress will first vote to suspend the rule which otherwise gives us (and the people) 72 hours to consider a bill.

          The scam here is that Democrats are alleging abuse of Presidential power, while simultaneously reauthorizing warrantless power to spy on citizens that no President should have… in a bill that continues to fund EVERYTHING the President does… and waiving their own rules to do it.”

          “Remember when the Republicans hoodwinked all you right wingers into believing that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 911?”

          No, I seem to recall that it was a preemptive strike because they were a threat and possessed wmd. It was a lie. Were you not around then, or you just don’t know your history?

          ‘And now we all know the Iraq war was, as president Donald Trump says, “the greatest mistake this country has ever made”.’

          Yes it was and tens of millions of people like me and you agree with him.

        • No, I am not wrong about history.

          The Republicans were lying about every aspect of the war in Iraq, from Colin Powell lying to the UN about WMD, to Dick Cheney and George W Bush lying about Al-Qaeda connections.

          There was a concerted, deceitful propaganda push by the Bush administration to blame Saddam Hussein for the 9/11 attacks. From George W. Bush on down, Republican officials lied their ass off, deceiving the American people about our true enemies. Bush gave the Saudis a pass on being the birthplace of the 9/11 attacks because he was in league with the House of Saud.

          Dick Cheney, Halliburton war profiteer, was particularly vocal in linking Saddam Hussein to the terrorists that attacked NYC, and of course it was all lies.

          “ Vice President Dick Cheney had told Meet the Press on December 9, 2001, that Iraq was harboring Abdul Rahman Yasin, a suspect in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing,[14] and repeated the statement in another appearance on September 14, 2003, saying “We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida that stretched back through most of the decade of the ’90s, that it involved training, for example, on BW and CW, that al-Qaida sent personnel to Baghdad to get trained on the systems that are involved. The Iraqis providing bomb-making expertise and advice to the al-Qaida organization. We know, for example, in connection with the original World Trade Center bombing in ’93 that one of the bombers was Iraqi, returned to Iraq after the attack of ’93. And we’ve learned subsequent to that, since we went into Baghdad and got into the intelligence files, that this individual probably also received financing from the Iraqi government as well as safe haven.”[15] and once again in an interview with National Public Radio in January, 2004, stating that there had been “overwhelming evidence” of a relationship between Saddam and al-Qaeda based on evidence including Iraq’s purported harboring of Yasin.[16]

          In the same Meet the Press interviews, Cheney implied a connection between Iraq and Mohamed Atta; “The Czech interior minister said today that an Iraqi intelligence officer met with Mohammed Atta, one of the ringleaders of the September 11 terrorists attacks on the United States, just five months before the synchronized hijackings and mass killings were carried out.”[14] and “With respect to 9/11, of course, we’ve had the story that’s been public out there. The Czechs alleged that Mohamed Atta, the lead attacker, met in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official five months before the attack, but we’ve never been able to develop any more of that yet either in terms of confirming it or discrediting it. We just don’t know.”[15] Czech officials have since backed off of this claim, and even Cheney has since acknowledged that the notion “that the meeting ever took place” has been “pretty well knocked down now.”

          “ Fool me twice, you won’t get fooled again!“

  10. God’s speed! Hope you have better luck than we did, we literally covered the state house grounds, as opposed to a couple hundred shrieking antis, and with our “progressive” politicians we still lost. The time for respectful disagreement is far past!

  11. I echo others who question, 200? If you think it can’t happen, then sit back and do nothing and when it happens don’t come crying. The true issue here is what the drafters of the Constitution intended and if you read what many in that day echoed, they simply said without guns the tyranny of government will be unchecked, and that is the road on which uninformed and liberal socialist are now traveling. Do we need change yes, but the failure to first establish a clear objective and then form the way in which to achieve it, is both a tactical failure but the path of the fool. Instead the Democrats just establish a policy with no clear idea of what it will change or accomplish.

    • The people in charge of this know what they want and will get it, after they kill off the ones who followed them for “change”. The “change” will be worse than anyone will believe.

  12. The major problem with protests and rallies is that the left use professional protesters as their core. How many “spontaneous” demonstrations for left leaning causes always have professionally prepared signs? Most of them. Normal people have jobs and families and can’t always show up, but we need to change that. Time to start showing up in numbers that the media can’t sweep under the rug. Time to call your local delegate and put them in the hot seat (politely if possible). We need to remind them that we do not work for them. they work for us. The new Democratic majority in Va is not that large. A few defections by Democrats who are more old school Democrats than progressives and we can stop or at least grind things to a halt.

  13. Years ago, I left my native liberal sh*thole in Europe to live a better life in the USA. I don’t regret anything. However, it is depressing to see what’s happening here. Tyrants working daily on getting rid of our freedom with the unconditional support of the media and millions of foolish citizen, the overwhelming propaganda (LGBTQ, culture of “white guilt,” etc), and the socialist fraud gaining in popularity (AOC, Bernie Sanders).

    • You certainly never lived in Western Europe because if you had you would never have come here. Maybe you lived in Eastern Europe but I even have my doubts about that because I have known people that came here from Eastern Europe and over 1/2 went back after 5 years.

  14. I mean, by all means rally and do every peaceful means of redress. But know that the courts will not save you in the end. You will have to use the 2nd amendment to keep new purchases unencumbered and if you do not they will come after your grandfathered items at a later date.

  15. I bet they video taped and photographed as many of the protestors as possible. In a year they will start with the ones who dared oppose them in public.
    If there was a shred of compromise in the left they wouldn’t be already drafting laws that essentially are one sided plans to do only what they want. They compromise when they are either at a disadvantage or in a 50 50 situation. Once they cross that magic line democracy takes over.

  16. Anti-gunners do not want to talk about the facts. The people we need to educate are the people who we share political beliefs with, but who are ignorant of the facts.

  17. The gun grabbers like Michael Bloomberg are using raw emotion and hysteria to push their un-Constitutional gun control laws. None of these laws target the criminal element in our society, only law-abiding citizens. Background checks are fine but only if they are used to identify prohibited individuals, properly adjudicated in court, and non-citizens and report them to appropriate Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). Most criminals, about 90%, obtain their weapons illegally by theft or on the black market and not through an FFL dealer. LEAs should target the Black Market and thieves, not law-abiding citizens.

    Criminals and madmen prefer passive targets that can’t fight back. If they think their prey may be armed, they will probably find another target like in a “Gun Free” zone. Disarming the People does not make us safer, just more vulnerable.

  18. @jeff

    Yes there are solutions, Out there, but not by compromising the 2cnd amendment. Here’s one I know you are not going to like.
    How about anyone found guilty of any violent crime that involves a firearm, armed robbery, assault with a firearm, etc. firing squad at dawn day after conviction, no appeal, no exemptions. If all those sensible reasonable gun laws can be made constitutional, should not be a problem with my idea, it at least has precedent.

  19. Because anyone using a firearm for defense is automatically charged with assault with a firearm. Most DAs consider defensive use of a firearm as a violent crime.

    • Well, that’s two completely incorrect statements you’ve made in only a single article comment section.

      There has to be reasonable cause for a charge to be levied against a citizen, so if charges are automatically applied, you’re saying that anyone using a gun for defense is automatically assumed guilty. The foundation of American jurisprudence is the constitutional assumption of *innocence*, and the burden of proof is placed upon the State to prove guilt.

      You’re not batting a high average so far.

      • @ haz, Yes the assumption of innocence until proven guilty is (was) the basis of our judiciary, but now “red flag” laws don’t agree. Neither does our house of representatives re: last three years of attacks on president. The new way will prevail if we don’t bother to vote.
        YES, IT MATTERS. If the left disagrees, then we must prove a negative BTW back to back to back Bloomie ads last night.

        • And for that very reason, I believe the recent rash of Red Flag laws will eventually be cut down by SCOTUS as the blatantly unconstitutional violations that they are.

          Just because a group of Democrats got together and passed an unlawful piece of legislation, doesn’t mean it’s good and will stand scrutiny.

        • Should the house of representatives investigate clearly inappropriate business relationships with foreign adversarys?

          “Meanwhile, federal prosecutors charged yesterday evening that Lev Parnas, an associate of President Trump who represented him in Ukraine, was wired $1 million from a Russian bank account weeks before his arrest. Which is to say, Trump’s Ukraine plot appears to have been financed by Russia.
          Parnas met repeatedly with Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Parnas claims Trump pulled him aside at last year’s White House Hanukkah party and personally directed his activities in Ukraine. That allegation remains unproven. What is proven, though, is that Parnas met with Trump numerous times (there are photographs), was Giuliani’s official business partner, and represented himself to Ukrainians as an agent of both Trump and Giuliani.
          Rudy has worked as Trump’s lawyer for “free,” but Parnas paid him half a million dollars for his work. If Parnas himself was being paid by Russian sources, this means the Russians were essentially subsidizing Trump, paying for the work themselves so he didn’t have to lay out a dime of his own money.
          What did Russia get in return? Quite a bit. Trump attempted to hold up military aid that had been passed by Congress by margins Trump couldn’t block. He has continued to withhold a desperately sought meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, which the Ukrainian president believed would serve as a signal of American support, and give Ukraine leverage against Russia. Instead, Trump met this week in the White House with Russian foreign minister Sergey V. Lavrov, sending the opposite of the signal Ukraine wanted. Andrew Weiss, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Institute for International Peace, tells the New York Times, “The Russians surely arranged the Lavrov visit to capitalize on all of this and to send a message to the Ukrainians that they’re basically on their own now and need to cut the best deal they can since the U.S. backstop is largely inoperative.”

          Donald Trump, making Russia great again!

  20. The rally was a waste of time. The Power Elite know the majority of the people are screaming for more gun bans and that is where the votes are. The recent elections proved it. Still think they are not going to do as they please? The only question remains is “How much are they going to ban soon and how much later will they confiscate?

  21. Now this is the correct use of open carry of a rifle. At a political rally. NOT shopping at a retail store or going out for coffee. Carry a sidearm if you want for that.

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