Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Former New York mayor and gun control sugar daddy Michael Bloomberg was in Richmond, Virginia as the state legislative session kicked off on Wednesday. Bloomberg, who spent millions in the state backing anti-gun candidates in the 2019 elections, used his time in the Old Dominion to scold gun owners for the Second Amendment Sanctuary push in the state, and to urge them to urge them to turn in their guns to local police.
The debate on gun control in Virginia and around the country has focused in particular on assault-style rifles like AR-15s that have been used in mass shootings. Some initial pieces of Virginia legislation filed by Democrats that would outlaw AR-15-style rifles have not included any “grandfather” clauses allowing current owners of the popular rifle to keep them.
But Northam and other top Democrats in Virginia have said they don’t want to confiscate guns. And Bloomberg said Tuesday such a plan isn’t feasible.
“It’s probably impossible to get all of those back. One can only hope that when people see the damage they can cause, and the danger of having them in their houses, they’ll decide to just take them to the local police station and say, ‘Please, get rid of this,’” Bloomberg said.
It sounds like the only objection Bloomberg has stated to gun confiscation is that it isn’t feasible. Of course that isn’t stopping him or his pal Ralph Northam from pushing legislation that would ban the continued possession of commonly owned firearms, ammunition magazines, and legally owned suppressors. How feasible is it to turn 80% or more of the ammunition magazines in the state into prohibited items? How feasible is it to turn every gun owner who possesses a 17 or 20-round magazine into a felon?
“Nobody’s trying to take away anybody’s handguns … or rifles or shotguns,” Bloomberg said. “What we’re trying to do is have sensible gun regulations.”
Bloomberg and the anti-gun lawmakers he funded are absolutely trying to take away people’s handguns, rifles, and shotguns (at least those that meet Northam’s definition of “assault firearms”) if they don’t register them with the state of Virginia. They’re demanding people get rid of their legally owned ammunition magazines and suppressors. They’re also trying to take away the right to purchase these items in the future. Is it really a right if I’m “allowed” to keep my AR-15, but someone who wants to buy that exact same rifle in August of this year will be told it’s illegal for them to do so? Of course not. They’re turning the right to keep and bear arms into a privilege.
Even as Bloomberg was wagging his finger at Virginia gun owners on Wednesday, supervisors in Highland County, Virginia were busy approving a Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution. As the VCDL notes, that makes the county the 118th “Second Amendment Sanctuary” in the state. Fully 96% of the counties in Virginia have now adopted similar resolutions, which tells me that Bloomberg’s scolding of Second Amendment supporters is falling on deaf ears.
Cam Edwards has covered the 2nd Amendment for more than 15 years as a broadcast and online journalist, as well as the co-author of "Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Start a Family, and Other Manly Advice" with Jim Geraghty. He lives outside of Farmville, Virginia with his family. https://bearingarms.com/author/camedwards/
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2020/01/09/bloomberg-visits-va-scold-gun-owners/