Last month, I blogged about the Virginia Election Fallout: Gov. Northam “Working On” Assault Weapon Confiscation.
Since then, the pushback in Virginia has been immense, with entire cities and towns declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries and one Virginia sheriff promising to deputize thousands of residents in an entire county to ensure that their #2A rights are not violated.
In a move many see as cynical, Virginia Democrats have reportedly “caved” on their gun confiscation plans. Having started out in crazy land, they seem to imagine that positing a gun registration requirement for all Virginians is a workable “compromise.”
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Virginia Democratic leaders abandoned their gun confiscation proposal Monday following a grassroots outpouring of opposition to gun control across the state.Governor Ralph Northam (D.) and incoming Senate majority leader Dick Saslaw (D.) said they will no longer pursue their marquee plan to ban the possession of “assault weapons.” Instead, they will include a provision to allow Virginians to keep the firearms they already own. The reversal comes before the newly elected Democratic majority has even been sworn in, after a majority of the state’s counties declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries.””In this case, the governor’s assault weapons ban will include a grandfather clause for individuals who already own assault weapons, with the requirement they register their weapons before the end of a designated grace period,” Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky told the Virginia Mercury.
Overton window alert!
Apparently, Virginia Democrats believe that appearing to “cave” on actual confiscation in light of the reported 59 sanctuaries already in the state will soften Virginians on a mandatory gun registry.
Not so fast.
The Washington Free Beacon continues:
Gun-rights groups said the backtracking is merely a political strategy designed to enact new gun bans and registration.”Gov. Northam and the rest of Virginia’s anti-gun politicians’ idea of a compromise is to threaten hundreds of thousands of Virginians with felonies unless they submit to government control,” Catherine Mortensen, a National Rifle Association spokesperson, told the Free Beacon. “The NRA will stand with the Commonwealth’s law-abiding gun owners in solidarity to oppose gun bans, confiscations, and registrations.””We’ve been down this compromise road and their version of a compromise is they never give up anything,” Van Cleave said. “We are expected to give up something every time and we’re not doing it anymore. I think gun owners are tired of this and they’re gonna stand up and fight this stuff.”
Democrats want to make felons of millions of law-abiding gun owners across the nation, and if Northam’s “deal” is permitted, they will have their template.
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