People Power: VA Ban Defeated; WA Gun Owners Can Take a Lesson

By Dave Workman

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- News erupted Monday morning that the proposed ban on so-called “assault weapons” in Virginia—the measure supported by anti-gun Gov. Ralph Northam—was “shelved” in committee on a 10-5 bipartisan vote, handing the governor an embarrassing defeat.

According to Fox News, the vote saw four moderate Democrats cross party lines. It came a month after an estimated 22,000 heavily-armed Virginians and supporters from other states descended on the State Capitol in Richmond to “just say No” to new gun control. It follows the actions of nearly all Virginia counties to declare themselves as “Second Amendment Sanctuaries.”

What happened in Virginia Monday can now be justifiably touted as “a lesson” for embattled gun owners in other states, especially distant Washington in the Pacific Northwest. There, grassroots rights activists are waging a pitched battle against their own Democrat-controlled Legislature.

Gun owners have been flooding lawmakers with emails and phone calls, opposing Substitute House Bill 2240, the proposed ban on original capacity ammunition magazines. As noted by Curtis Bingham, moderator at the Facebook page of the Washington 2020 Legislative Action Group, stopping this measure is an “action item” requiring heavy citizen input.