Virginia Democrats’ pledge to pass new state gun laws has sparked a grassroots pro-gun movement expected to draw thousands of activists to a rally this month amid fears the escalating rhetoric could spark violence.
The concern comes in the wake of Democrats taking control of Virginia’s state government last November — and pledging to pass the gun control laws.
That in turn has triggered a grassroots pro-gun movement, with supporters demanding lawmakers pass “second amendment sanctuary” resolutions that promise local governments won’t enforce state gun laws they see as unconstitutional.
None of the laws under consideration have been found unconstitutional, The Guardian reported.
“I really do think we may be on the brink of another war,” one speaker told a crowd of at least 800 people in Pulaski county, the Roanoke Times reported last month.
The tensions may come to a head Jan. 20 — Martin Luther King Day — a lobby day against gun control that’s expected to attract thousands.
And the convergence of armed gun rights supporters and out of state anti-government groups is raising concerns about whether the lobby day could become another Charlottesville, where a day of volatile street-fighting ended with a white supremacist plowing a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
“Everyone needs to work to turn the rhetoric down – at the end of the day, this is about keeping people safe,” Alena Yarmosky, a spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam told The Guardian.
Though the NRA put out a statement supporting sanctuary resolutions, it has also organized a separate lobbying day for NRA members on Jan. 13.
“The rhetoric seems more revolutionary than ever,” Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California Los Angeles who specializes in gun policy told The Guardian about talk of civil war.
The civil war rhetoric is not just online, The Guardian reported.
The president of local pro-gun group Virginia Citizens Defense League, Philip Van Cleave, told The Guardian he’d heard concerns about civil war in phone calls, emails, and in-person conversations at events across the state.
“This is not people who are saying, ‘Yeah, I’m going to go fight.’ These are people who are concerned that this is where we’re headed,” he told the news outlet.
“They’re seeing something, and they know if the government pushes the wrong buttons, it’s going to happen. They’re very much aware that this is a powder keg.”
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