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Rallying for the 2nd Amendment — 28 Comments

  1. Oh, come on Neo. This Babylon Bee is just too juicy.

    Media Offers Thoughts And Prayers

    U.S.—Somber members of the press offered their thoughts and prayers that someone would start some violence at the gun rights rally in Virginia today.

    Reporters expressed their grief and condolences as the violence they hyped has so far failed to materialize.

    “Nobody has so much as fired a shot. This is an unbelievable tragedy,” said one teary-eyed MSNBC reporter, clearly caught up in the anguish of the moment. “It’s tragic that we live in a country where reporters who are just minding their own business trying to push a narrative can have everything ripped away from them in an instant when protesters refuse to shoot at people.”

    A CBS News reporter called for a moment of silence live on the air. “Let’s all take a minute and cry out to a non-specific deity of our choice that any second now, a miraculous shooting would occur.” When it did not occur, she began weeping and gnashing her teeth before ripping her suit jacket in despair. “WHY, GOD, WHY!?!”

    If it bleeds, it ledes. If it doesn’t bleed, well hell; maybe someone can hire a hitman! (joke)

  2. What’s really sad is that, whereas 20,000 or so turned out peacefully on a really cold day, and probably many tens of thousands more didn’t show up because they were afraid of losing their jobs by being photographed and doxxed, nonetheless the Virginia legislature won’t pay any attention at all to the outpouring of opposition to their gun restrictions.

    I was very amused by the picture of the black protester waving a huge Trump flag, wearing an American flag bandana on his lower face, saying he was Gov. Northam, in blackface.

  3. It was peaceful because very few of the anti-gun “protesters” showed up to cause trouble.

  4. 20,000 turned out- did the Republican party bother to make an appearance?

    I’m not thinking of the various county sheriffs in attendance. I’m thinking of state elected officials and potential candidates for the 2020 national election.

    Past experience makes me suspect the gop was nowhere to be seen. When Colorado passed some gun-banning measures a few years ago, the recall efforts against a pair of state senators was led by a couple of random pro-freedom citizens, without involvement from the state GOP.

    Or so I read, then. Maybe I’m wrong now, and I just haven’t seen mention of all the stirring speeches by the state’s valiant Republicans officeholders.

    But I doubt it.

  5. Take it for what it is, lots of pictures on the internet of Black Protestors peacefully showing up with AR’s and other guns. all sort of folks showing up and being present which indicates there are concerns with what the recent Dems who were voted in with outside money are trying to do. Legal gun owner citizens will not be disarmed and now the Gov. of Virginia with his crazy measures has helped arm a lot more of the good folk in Virginia and they like their new guns. This was a good day today.

  6. Noting that the RS post had the same photos as (Neo’s link) the LI post, although LI had considerably more. Is there a Conservative News analog to the Associate Press or something?
    I liked this comment at LI, because it was so true about the Tea Party Rallies as well.
    MarkJ | January 20, 2020 at 5:56 pm
    Q: How do you know a 2nd Amendment rally has occurred in Richmond?
    A: The Capitol grounds are the cleanest they’ve been in years.

  7. One of PJMedia’s posts linked a Twitter thread that included this graphic.
    Seems appropriate for a rally in Virginia – The Lees of Old Virginia would have approved.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOxHIKgXsAEsfjW.jpg

    And then there’s this:
    https://pjmedia.com/trending/theres-one-huge-irony-gun-rights-activists-at-virginia-rally-keep-pointing-out/

    Lawmaker Nick Freitas says it’s the only time that Democrats believe in a wall to keep people out.

    The well-behaved crowd is separated by a fence into two groups. Those who are carrying as usual and those who have been disarmed and fenced in, which is called the “freedom zone,” according to a Minnesota gun-rights activist who came to video the event.

  8. charles on January 20, 2020 at 9:04 pm said:
    It was peaceful because very few of the anti-gun “protesters” showed up to cause trouble.
    * * *
    I’ve seen a couple of stories saying the (apparently) lone agitator for violence was from Antifa, but that seems like a false accusation.
    The organized Antifa groups either didn’t show up, or came incognito, because they know that more restrictive gun laws also affects their own people (every silver lining has a cloud..), and any kind of violence would give support to the gun-grabbers.

    https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/antifa-offers-to-march-with-gun-rights-groups-at-virginia-2a-rally-gun-rights-groups-no-thank-you/

  9. Xennady on January 20, 2020 at 10:26 pm said:
    20,000 turned out- did the Republican party bother to make an appearance?

    I’m not thinking of the various county sheriffs in attendance. I’m thinking of state elected officials and potential candidates for the 2020 national election.

    Past experience makes me suspect the gop was nowhere to be seen. When Colorado passed some gun-banning measures a few years ago, the recall efforts against a pair of state senators was led by a couple of random pro-freedom citizens, without involvement from the state GOP.

    Or so I read, then. Maybe I’m wrong now, and I just haven’t seen mention of all the stirring speeches by the state’s valiant Republicans officeholders.

    But I doubt it.
    * * *
    https://www.courier-tribune.com/news/20200117/nc-gop-lawmakers-support-second-amendment-sanctuaries-head-to-va-rally

    Republican state lawmakers are showing their support for areas that declare themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries,” and some plan to attend a gun rights rally Monday in Virginia that the state’s governor fears might turn violent.

    Fifty members of the Republican House caucus, including Speaker Tim Moore and Majority Leader John Bell, signed a letter from Rep. Keith Kidwell’s office that supports those who want “Second Amendment sanctuaries,” especially in Virginia.

    Kidwell, of Chocowinity, said that he, along with Rep. Michael Speciale of New Bern and Rep. Bobby Hanig of Currituck County, will deliver the letter to the Virginia legislature Monday. That day, gun rights groups and their supporters are holding the rally at the Virginia Capitol.

    I don’t see any mention of the national or state GOP, but the recall leaders were more than just some random freedom lovers.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Colorado_recall_election

    The recall drive against Morse was spearheaded by the Basic Freedom Defense Fund (BFDF) and the El Paso County Freedom Defense Committee.[5] The recall drive against Giron was led by Pueblo Freedom and Rights.[6]

    …The National Rifle Association (NRA) supported the recall effort with mailers and donations.[7] National groups opposing the recall included America Votes, believed to be financially supported by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg,[7] as well as California billionaire Eli Broad.

    And then there’s the support of this random GOP guy. He’s not a state official, but he is running for office in 2020.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/478885-trump-warns-of-attack-on-2nd-amendment-ahead-of-virginia-gun-rights

  10. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1219302301879472134.html

    John Hayward @Doc_0

    The 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the most powerful expression of individual sovereignty ever conceived by mankind. Even those who have no interest in owning a gun should tirelessly defend what it represents.

    Of COURSE totalitarians hate both the 1st and 2nd Amendments and want to limit, rewrite, or dispose of them – all for our own greater good, of course! The Bill of Rights is the antithesis of totalitarianism, of collectivism, of socialism, of communism, of fascism.

    We should use those vital amendments as a test of ideology. No matter what an ideologue claims to want, no matter what he says about “justice” and “fairness,” we should ask: Is your ideology fully compatible with the Bill of Rights? If not, sorry, no sale.

    In most cases, you can shorten that ideological test to just the 1st and 2nd Amendments. Every bad and dangerous ideology fails to get past those two. They are America’s tireless sentinels against tyranny, very much including the tyranny of the “well-meaning.”

    You’ll never find a totalitarian perfectly comfortable with the 1st and 2nd Amendments as written. You can easily prod them into exposing themselves by asking if they think changes to either or both are necessary for their agenda to be fulfilled.

    And in my experience, the people who claim to love the 1st Amendment while dismissing the 2nd as reactionary powdered-wig nonsense about militias can’t hold out for long without telling how they think 1A should be rewritten too. There is such a profound connection between them.

    The 2A says something about the relationship of American citizens to the state, about the moral and practical limits of government power, about individual responsibility. Those things should never be unsaid. They should be repeated loudly and proudly by all of us, every day. /end

  11. About those liberal hack reporters —
    https://freebeacon.com/issues/while-discussing-peaceful-2a-rally-cnn-keeps-up-chyron-about-kansas-city-shooting/

    While reporting on a peaceful gun-rights rally in Richmond, Va., on Monday, CNN kept a chyron up about a shooting the night before in Kansas City.

    CNN reported on three recent gun-related events: a Monday morning shooting in Honolulu, a Sunday night shooting in Kansas City, and a Monday gun-rights rally in Richmond. As the segment transitioned from the Kansas City shooting to the Richmond protest, the chyron title read “Virginia Gun Fight” with the subtitle “2 Dead, 15 Injured in Kansas City shooting.”

    The chyron was up for over a minute into the report about the peaceful gun-rights rally in Virginia before changing to “No incidents at pro gun rally after threats of extremist violence.”

  12. RAH was onto something there.
    Also a paragraph addressing Xennady’s question.

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/01/pro-gun-rally-in-richmond-is-peaceful-liberals-hardest-hit.php

    Antifa threatened to show up at the rally, and likely would have created violence if it had done so. But for some reason, the group’s leaders changed their minds. Maybe they focused on the fact that the 2x4s, pipes and baseball bats with which they are used to beating up innocent bystanders might not fare so well in this crowd. One young guy who looked suspiciously like a leftist advocated jumping the fence and killing people. The genuine demonstrators denounced him as an “infiltrator”–which I suspect he was–and told him to “get the f*** out.”

    Virginia’s Democrats are unabashedly in favor of gun confiscation. Why is it that when Democrats take control of a legislative body, they instinctively move to confiscate legally-owned firearms from law-abiding citizens, in violation of the Second Amendment? It would take a psychiatrist to answer that question. Certainly a student of crime statistics wouldn’t be able to explain it. Whatever the cause, the Democrats’ move against the citizens’ constitutional rights is manna from Heaven for Republicans, many of whom mingled with the demonstrators and endorsed their cause.

  13. It’s not just Virginia that has a legislature actively fighting against their citizens and the Constitution.

    https://www-gunpowdermagazine-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.gunpowdermagazine.com/new-mexico-29-of-33-county-sheriffs-refuse-to-enforce-anti-2a-laws-24-counties-become-sanctuaries/amp/?usqp=mq331AQCKAE=&amp_js_v=0.1#aoh=15795904690559&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s

    “Twenty-nine out of the 33 New Mexico Sheriffs agree that the rush to react to the violence by proposing controls on guns is ill conceived and is truly a distraction to the real problems proliferating violence in our counties and our state,” the letter reads.

    New Mexico Sheriffs Association President Tony Mace told Gunpowder Magazine he views these resolutions as one of the only ways gun owners can defend themselves against the aggressive legislation backed by Democrats who turned the state blue in 2018.

    Mace, who is also the Sheriff of Cibola County, says the relationship between the legislators and Sheriffs Association has generally been good, but has begun to strain recently.

    “When this legislation is drafted every session, we are not invited to the table,” Sheriff Mace told Gunpowder Magazine. “Our voices are falling on deaf ears. They’re not giving our point of view any attention at all.

    “If they’re not going to listen to us, then we are going to use their tactics against them,” Mace said. “I, like the other sheriffs, was elected to protect our citizens’ constitutional rights. And that’s exactly what we plan to do.”

    Shepperd and other sheriffs across the state vehemently insist the pending legislation is burdensome to law-abiding gun owners and plainly unconstitutional.

    “Our lives are on the line when we do this, we want a seat at the table,” Sheriff Shepperd told Gunpowder Magazine. “We need some type of common-sense legislation, and the legislators are just not listening.”

  14. “nonetheless the Virginia legislature won’t pay any attention at all to the outpouring of opposition to their gun restrictions.”

    For the proponents in the Legislature of these laws they have already dismissed the demonstration as being so small as not to matter. 22,000 people demonstrating, many from out of state, from a total population of 8.5m is deemed an insignificant minority.

    This is why demonstrations like this – and the Women’s March – are so ineffectual at bringing about meaningful change. It’s going to take a trip to the US Supreme Court to get these laws eliminated.

  15. Or so I read, then. Maybe I’m wrong now, and I just haven’t seen mention of all the stirring speeches by the state’s valiant Republicans officeholders.

    The most prominent Republican in Virginia is Ed Gillespie. His occupation is lobbyist. His firm is billed as ‘bipartisan’. The modus operandi of standard issue Republican pols is failure theatre.

  16. On a different topic, has anyone else experienced odd problems with LI in recent days? I had a couple of suspect page redirects a few days ago and haven’t been back.

  17. AesopFan –

    I agree 100% that support for a country ruled by law – and not by man – starts with our 1st & 2nd Amendments. If a person or group doesn’t support them absolutely and in their entirety they are Totalitarians.

    Not all Amendments are for the better.

    The 18th Amendment was proposed, approved and enforced by Totalitarians. ‘For the Children!’ of course.

  18. Professor Mauser did a study on the effect of the restrictive gun laws that were passed in Canada, the UK and Australia in the 1990s following some murders. He looked at the government statistics on crime before and after the laws were passed. This is his conclusion.
    “This review of violent crime trends in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada found that in the years following the introduction of British-style gun laws, despite massive increases in governmental bureaucracy, total homicide rates either increased or remained stable. Similar trends were observed in total violent crime. Importantly, in not one of these countries did the new gun laws appear to result in a decrease in total homicide rates despite the enormous costs to taxpayers.”

  19. CaptDMO on January 21, 2020 at 8:28 am said:
    Holy crap Aesop, nice work!
    * * *
    Thanks – it’s amazing what you can put together from the internet when you stay up too late at night.
    Which, sadly, sometimes makes me late to things the next day.
    😉

    PS What’s the DMO stand for, if I may ask?

  20. The thing is, “freedom” is only really relevant for individuals.
    Moral Actors – decision makers who are responsible for the results, whether held accountable or (all too often) not.

    Democracy is the best, but still very imperfect way, to support individual freedom. One man, one gun, one target – majority wins. Usually the majority wants freedom for themselves, and the US has taught the world, by example, how great it is when majority freedom is spread to minorities as well.

    It’s not perfect — but “perfect” is not defined, either.

    The First Two Amendments, Free Speech, Religion, Assembly; and owning guns, these are two biggest pillars of freedom.

    I’m so sad, and disappointed, that so many Americans are willing to give these freedoms away.

  21. What terrifies the left about the prospects of hundreds of thousands of armed people is…they vote.

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