I do not think there is single soul in the known universe (certainly not in the industrialized, civilised, televised, westernized universe) who has not heard of governor Ralph Northam and his pitchfork-and-torch inciting rhetoric regarding Article I, Section 13 (some of you prefer the 2ND Amendment, but Virginia had it first, so settle) and how Virginia's gun owners are a bunch of crazy, out-of-control, militia-forming, redneck simpletons who for some reason do not deserve the rights our founders secured for us.
This year a bevy of draconian and punitive legislation has been proposed by a majority (D) General Assembly. Bills ranging from what are commonly known as "Red Flag" laws to one-handgun-a-month, universal background checks, "assault weapon" bans, magazine capacity limits, and more have passed out of the liberal-controlled Senate chamber.
The third Monday in January (formerly Lee-Jackson Day, now Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) in Virginia has been, for decades affectionately known as Lobby Day. Because it is a federal holiday, many businesses are closed for the day, allowing the working class the opportunity to engage their legislators face-to-face to air grievances, offer support, or suggest other ways that they can better serve their constituents.
This year amid the growing concern of the passing of grossly unconstitutional, and invasive and intrusive legislation over 90% of the Commonwealth's municipal authorities have declared or resolved themselves as some form of "sanctuary" for the 2ND Amendment, marking a defiance to the proposition that the state government can pass any legislation limiting the right of the people to keep and bear arms. A largely impotent gesture when it comes to the law, but more a measure of the determination of the people of Virginia to resist the tyranny of Richmond.
And in response to these resolutions the governor and general assembly doubled-down on their assault on our rights. They proudly (and factually suspect) declared that a majority of Virginians favored MORE gun control. This is patently false and is supported only by surveys made largely by liberal voters.
So the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) supported by the Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Virginia Gun Owners Forum (VGOF) announced their intention to organize a rally on the Capital steps on Lobby Day, January 20, 2020. VCDL has historically led the charge in Virginia in support of gun rights and legislation to protect gun owners and our rich heritage. Since 2002 under the direction of president Philip Van Cleave supported by a myriad cast of executive members, and regional and local support, they have sent teams (or "groups") into the general assembly on Lobby Day to encourage elected officials to reject intrusive and restrictive legislation and to support empowering and liberty-centric bills. Many municipalities saw upwards of 1,000 attendees at City Council and Board of Supervisor meetings. Initial response was substantial, with 10s of thousands pledging to show up in support of the VCDL-led efforts.
And then governor Northam got wind of it. And governor Northam got scared. And governor Northam did what democrats do best: he panicked and he started grasping at straws.
First he issued an executive order banning firearms in the Capital buildings. Then he amended the order to include the grounds. Then he amended it further to make it a Class 1 misdemeanor to be found in possession of a firearm on the grounds. Not to be outdone, the Rules Committee of the General Assembly, hastily-assembled and heavily democrat, announced that firearms would not be permitted in the Pocahontas Building which is serving as the temporary home to the legislative branch while the GA building continues to undergo much-needed renovation and modernization. So for the first time in over a decade, without a single incident (save for one where a LEGISLATOR had a negligent discharge), firearms would arbitrarily be prohibited within the Assembly. This rule was applied to the public as well as the legislators themselves.
Thousands of people pledged to join the rally. In the weeks leading up to January 20 there were "reports" of Antifa (the Anti-fascist movement) making threats to infiltrate and disrupt the rally. The FBI suddenly had "reliable information" which led the arrest of three men, one from Maryland, one from Delaware and one illegally in-country from Canada who they claimed were members of a white-nationalist group know as "The Base" - a group of which there was absolutely zero verifiable information of having existed prior to the FBI "learning" of their plan to bomb/disrupt/infiltrate the rally. One Senator (Amanda Chase) went on record claiming that these arrests posed a clear and present danger to the event and that people should, get this "Stay home".
I reached out to some friends and we made a plan to attend. We had no idea what we were in for, but could not in good conscience sit on the sidelines while our rights were under such an attack. Originally I had as many as five (myself plus four) but scheduling conflicts and uncertainty about logistics and travel times caused a few to reconsider. In the end it was myself plus 2. Our plan was to try and arrive in Richmond around 7, so I had one friend who was traveling in from Chesapeake meet me at the VDOT Park-n-Ride at Indian River Road at 4:45 and then we headed to pick up our RIO in Bayview before proceeding towards Richmond.
Traffic was largely inconsequential at that time of the morning and even making a couple of stops for provisions along the way, we made it into town shortly after 6:30. Our
original parking situation had been investigated by a group who came in
ahead of us and was deemed unsatisfactory, so we made for an alternate
location which ended up being on-street near the intersection of Semmes
Ave and Commerce Rd. We hiked across the Porterfield Bridge to Brown's
Island Park and followed 9TH up to the Capital. By the time we arrived (about 7:15) there were already thousands of people lined up to get into the Capital grounds (one gate in, three gates out) and many more thousands along 9TH,10TH, 12TH and Bank Streets. We wandered about briefly before I announced I wanted to try to talk to a couple of delegates, so we headed for the entrance to the Pocahontas Building, which fronts on E. Main St. There was a line stretching for nearly 3 solid blocks and the building was at capacity. Security were only letting people in when someone left. This was at 7:30.So we wandered a bit more. We read signs ranging from "More Patriots than you have Handcuffs" and "My Rights are not Up for Debate" to "Northam Must Go" and "I Guess Racism is OK if a Democrat Does It" in reference to the revealing college photo outing governor Northam as a blackface-wearing (or Klan-hooded, depending on who you ask) hooligan. Never mind that he supports abortion up to the moment of delivery - otherwise known as infanticide.
There were people from all walks. There were women. There were blacks. There were Asians. There were Hispanics. There were queers. There were people in business casual. There were younger folks in jeans and hoodies. There were "operators" in full kit carrying everything from AR15s with custom cerakote finishes to Chinese SKS and even a few Mosins. One guy who came all the way from New York was carrying what appeared to be a Barrett 82A1. Not the most practical "rifle" for close quarters in an urban canyon, but to each his own. The majority I think carried handguns.
There was out-of-state support as well. Signs from New York, Michigan, Ohio - I opined rather loudly that if those states had supported us in 1861 we wouldn't be in this mess today. I don't think they got it.
The streets and grounds were crawling with Law Enforcement. Capital Police had been reinforced with Richmond City and Virginia State Police. For the most part they were consummate professionals. Many of them were even cordial. None of them were standoffish. I'd say at worst they were on low alert. There were a few spotters (some have said snipers, but I never saw anything other than binoculars in their hands, no scopes) on strategic rooftops, as well as the Capital. Occasionally one of them would appear to alert but they would quickly lose interest. There was really very little for them to do otherwise.
Around 11 AM I was standing on Bank St in front of the Court of Appeals building when I heard a familiar voice over a loudspeaker up on the hill - Philip Van Cleave. I couldn't make out what he was saying, so I tuned my Baofeng UV-5R to FM 96.1 (WRVA, Richmond) in the hopes that they would make good on their promise to simulcast the rally over the air. No such luck. After listening to about 5-6 minutes of an interview already underway I was convinced I would not be able to hear any of the speakers. The PA they had procured was woefully inadequate. Not long after the rally officially began I heard a voice behind me call out "Man down!" I turned and there was an elderly fellow on his back and a couple of younger guys kneeling to investigate. One of them called to a VSP officer on the Capital lawn and in less than a minute there was a Medic on top of the man rendering aid. A few State Police formed a short perimeter around the man on the ground, though this was largely ceremonial since most of the onlookers seemed to have enough wherewithal to give the medical professional room to do his job.
I had some concern throughout the day that some yokel was going to finger his AR or paint the crowd, but it never happened. Even the guys carrying single-point and low ready seemed to at least be students of Col. Jeff Cooper. I never saw one instance of inappropriate trigger address.
The City had removed all trash bins from Bank St, as well as 9TH, 10TH, and 12TH Streets between Main and Bank. I was worried that there would not be enough facilities to dispose of litter, but some resourceful attendees had brought trash bags and scrapers, and left the place as clean as they found it. It is a testimony to the character of the culture in general that there was no trace left.
To my knowledge there were two (2) sets of johnny huts. One on Main St between 10TH and 11TH and the other on Franklin west of 9TH. It didn't appear as though they were abused or vandalized, and the lines to use them were about as orderly as could be expected. Several streets were cordoned off with heavy machinery (dump trucks, backhoes) and large round concrete pedestals which resembled pieces from maybe a giant Pachisi set, with grooves at the bottom where they could be forklifted.
Around 11:45 we had pretty much determined that we weren't hearing any of the speakers on the hill and the sun had dipped behind the VRS Administration Building (temperature topped out at around 38°) and we figured we had seen what we came to see and done what we came to do. We strolled down Byrd towards the Mayo Bridge and followed the catwalk under the railroad trestle back west towards Brown's Island.
Getting out of Richmond was only slightly stickier than getting in, as some of the road closures worked against us trying to get back to I-64 without paying a toll. We finally found a route that didn't snarl us up in town for more than a few blocks, made our way onto the interstate around 14TH and Broad, and headed home.
Round about 2 PM I received a phone call from a member of the House who asked me if I was still in Richmond, and would I like to come up and see him. About that time I was on I-64 in Hampton passing the Coliseum and Bass Pro Shops! He asked how I thought it went, and told me that he was still working for US. He told me that since I wasn't available that I could always - and he welcomed me to - email or text him if I had any suggestions or wanted to talk. Of course he expects to be rather busy the next few weeks, and he was about to head into a committee meeting, but the gesture was greatly appreciated and humbling.
Overall the day went smoothly and without incident, I think much to the chagrin of governor Northam who issued a statement saying that the presence of law enforcement "de-escalated" a potential situation except, to anyone who was there, the only situation was the one Northam created and we refused to be baited by. What I think it says the most is just how little Northam and his acolytes know the people of Virginia. We are patient. We are loyal. We are good, hard-working, honest people. They predicted riots and violence, because those are the tools THEY use to get their way. But don't poke the bear too long, governor. There were enough operators in the crowd to wipe the floor with your law enforcement brigade. If even 1/3 or 1/4 of the people in attendance appeared at the Capital gate with the designs to oust you physically, there wouldn't be nearly men enough to stop them.
Your actions over the next few months will determine your fate. Be very careful how you tread, because my ancestors did far worse to better men than you for far less. Just because we're patient doesn't mean we're stupid, and just because we're honorable doesn't mean we're harmless. Your days are numbered, Northam. How you count them is up to you.
