Virginia Governor and Michael Jackson aficionado Ralph Northam has made his state ground zero for the gun control debate, and it’s already blowing up in his face.
He and his fellow Democrats came out guns blazing (pun intended), calling for not only a ban on so-called “assault weapons,” but confiscation of everyone who currently possesses one. Not coincidentally, Northam also wants to greatly expand the definition of an assault weapons so that pistols and shotguns are also banned in addition to weapons. Even during the Clinton-era “assault weapons ban,” current owners had their firearms grandfathered in. It was only new purchases prohibited.
It comes as a reminder that so-called “common sense” gun control will always be more restrictive than people are comfortable with – and that these kind of gun control policies are even harder to enforce than liberals anticipated.
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Liberals tried to skirt immigration laws through the creation of “sanctuary cities,” and conservatives in Virginia are ripping a page out of that playbook and shoving it in their face. According to the Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard:
Stirred awake by Democratic proposals to take, register, and possibly seize their legally obtained weapons, Virginia gun owners in just 43 days have pushed 90% of the state’s counties [containing 40% of the population] to become gun “sanctuaries,” the latest three on Monday night.
Since the Nov. 5 election that gave Democrats control of Richmond, an “organic,” pro-gun movement has prompted the governments of 86 of Virginia’s 95 counties, as well as 15 towns and cities, to adopt some type of sanctuary language, putting Gov. Ralph Northam and other liberals on notice that their gun control plans aren’t welcome.
So strong is the opposition to gun control that one Sheriff promised to deputize his entire town if gun control laws were enacted, which would...