By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Newly Elected VA Gov. Northman
Energized by the complete takeover of the Virginia Legislature Tuesday by Democrats, the gun prohibition lobby hit their email lists Wednesday with a message suggesting they believe the best is yet to come, which translates to bad news for gun owners.
Anti-gun Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was already on CNN Wednesday promising to reintroduce his gun control agenda, which includes a ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “high volume magazines,” but also safe storage, a resurrection of one-gun-a-month, and other restrictions. Northern Virginia is home to a growing population involved with government in nearby Washington, D.C. In the past ten years, it has backed Democrat candidates for governor and the presidency.
Northam boldly declared Virginia is “a blue state” as he promised to push liberal issues, including gun control.
Northam told reporters this week his legislative proposals “will save lives in Virginia.” He asserted the majority of Virginians agree with his proposals.
Democrats were able to take control after anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’ Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund poured some $2.5 million into the Virginia elections. By contrast, the National Rifle Association, which is based in that state, spent about $300,000.
“The results in Virginia just gave a huge momentum boost for gun safety in the 2020 elections,” said Everytown for Gun Safety’s John Feinblatt in a prepared message. “But only if we have the resources to keep winning. And with the NRA’s political action committee on pace to raise a record amount of money this year, we need your help to make sure we can keep beating the gun lobby and the candidates they have in their pocket.”
It was further evidence that Bloomberg and other wealthy elitists have “weaponized their wealth.”
“Not only did we beat the NRA in their own home state,” Feinblatt’s message said, “but these victories will ensure that Gun Sense Candidates will now hold the power to pass legislation to protect families in the Commonwealth from gun violence.”
A defiant NRA issued the following statement Wednesday:
“As if Gov. Northam’s legacy of ineptitude wasn’t enough, Virginians are about to experience life under a distant tycoon’s thumb. Candidates who proudly accepted Bloomberg’s cash—and every voter they misled—will soon realize the cost of being beholden to a Manhattan billionaire who despises Virginians’ right to self-defense. Fortunately, many NRA-backed candidates in Virginia, New Jersey, Kentucky and Mississippi prevailed over their Bloomberg-funded opponents. As the battle continues, so does the NRA’s defense of the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.” –NRA
No sooner had the dust begun to settle on the 2019 elections than has gun control emerged as a certain national election issue in 2020.
