“These people are crazy. They’re like little kids.”

The latest update of Virginia’s gun right abolishment: This morning, 4 bills were passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee, meaning they’re now headed to a full Senate vote.

The bills will limit Virginians to purchasing only 1 handgun in a 30-day period, require background checks on all firearm purchases, allow law enforcement to remove firearms temporarily from someone at risk of harming himself or others, and allow localities to ban firearms at certain events.

Virginia Senator Dave Marsden has said some nasty things about gun rights advocates. He attended a public meeting in Fairfax County over the weekend and reportedly called Second Amendment supporters “little kids.”

A microphone that was on caught Marsden in conversation about constitutionalists, saying,

“These people are crazy,” and, “Yea, they’re like little kids. As long as we don’t reply we’ll get through this.”

Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn also had some things to say about 2A supporters. When Marsden asked her if she was “going to stick around for the 10 o’clock gun nuts,” she answered,

“These are insane people.”

Clearly a supporter of abolishing the rights of Virginians to bear arms, Senator Marsden sent a follow-up letter to his constituents, just to be sure his opinion was perfectly clear. In the letter, he said, “too many of your members and other 2A supporters appear to have mental issues.”

Marsden later appeared on radio show Mornings on the Mall with Mary Walter, who read part of his letter on the air.

Instead of hanging his head in shame and apologizing for the incredibly insulting remarks he made, he said the following:

“A significant number of these things were indicative of very unstable people, and this is worrisome. The responses I was getting were from people who showed signs of having mental health difficulties.”

Now, Senator. That’s not very nice.

But it is a whole lot of people with “mental health difficulties.”

Over 100,000 Virginia gun owners have publicly shown their support for Second Amendment Sanctuaries in some way. They’ve attended meetings, held rallies, written letters and emails, made phone calls.

The leader of the movement and organizer of some of the rallies is the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

The organization’s president, Philip Van Cleave, commented, “Now it’s time. Now we’re going to melt down their phones, explode their inboxes on their email. We’re going to bombard them more than they’ve been bombarded.”

He also said that anti-gun legislation is “pouring in like a waterfall.” I would have to agree.

“They picked a fight with a set of people who are tired of it,” he continued. “We’re tired of being the whipping boy. Every time somebody shoots up a bunch of people in a gun-free zone, they come after us, and we’re tired of it. We’re fed up, and we’re not giving up any more. We’re not the problem.” “Our freedom started here and … we’ll be damned if it ends here.”

Excuse me while I wipe my eyes and sing the pledge of allegiance, hand and rifle over my heart.

It’s reported that 94% of Virginia supports the sanctuary movement. It appears that no one has given that statistic to Marsden and the rest of his anti-gun cohort.

Virginia Second Amendment Alliance, comprised of Virginia Citizens Defense League, Gun Owners of America, 2AC3, and other second amendment advocates, is preparing for a rally on Lobby Day scheduled for Monday, January 20.

The group announced Sunday that the first anti-gun legislation has been approved by the Joint Rules Committee which bans firearms in the Capitol. To include the Pocahontas building, where the lobbyists are meeting. This means that lobbyists will have to leave their weapons at home or stay off of the Capitol’s immediate property, as there isn’t yet any ruling on the surrounding area.

But wait, you say. Any legislation passed won’t be in effect until July 1, 2020 or January 1, 2021 depending on whether passed by the House or Senate, you say.

Yeah, the democrats knew that too. Which is why they rushed the vote and sent it through the Joint Rules Committee instead of the proper channels of the House, as the rules committee decisions are effecting at 11:59pm the day they’re voted on.

“Our focus here is to keep everybody safe,” said Filler-Corn. “These are policies and rules that should have passed a long, long time ago.”

Right. Sneaky, sneaky, Gun Haters.

The Alliance is putting out information in order to keep their rally peaceful and to ensure that lobbyists associated with the movement are doing things the right way. They are advising attendants to not arrive in tactical gear. They’re putting out maps to ensure they don’t disturb the local hospital.

Busses, shuttles, and carpools have been set up. Updates are being given to ensure all laws, rules, and policies are being followed.

Did you know that Law Enforcement Today has a private new home for those who support emergency responders and veterans? It’s called LET Unity, and it’s where we share the untold stories of those patriotic Americans. Every penny gets reinvested into giving these heroes a voice. Check it out today.

That sure does sound like a big group of people with “mental health issues,” Senator Marsden. Maybe instead of name-calling, you should listen to what the people of Virginia are saying, the rights they are demanding to keep.

What Van Cleave said is worth repeating:

“Our freedom started here and … we’ll be damned if it ends here.”

What’s worse, now Virginia lawmakers are trying to change the law over who can and cannot carry a concealed weapon in their state — including cops and active military.

State Delegate Dan Helmer filed a bill this past Wednesday that would allow the Attorney General, Mark Herring, the ability to determine which states’ concealed carry permits Virginia would continue to recognize, and potentially making it almost impossible for people to protect themselves if they do not live in Virginia.

Not that they plan to let Virginians protect themselves either.

It appears that this would include members of the military that are stationed at one of the many Virginia bases.

According to the Washington Examiner, Virginia’s current concealed carry reciprocity law recognizes every out-of-state concealed carry license. However, the new proposal from Helmer could limit the number of out-of-state concealed carry permits Virginia recognizes if Herring deems their carry permit requirements insufficient.

“This is certainly more restrictive than the current process, which recognizes everyone’s permit. He can start saying, well, for this reason, or that reason, I’m not going to recognize their permit now,” Virginia lawyer George Lyon of Arsenal Attorneystold the Washington Examiner.”There are provisions where people can be denied a permit. For example, if they’ve had a stalking conviction or if they’ve had a drug conviction or possibly multiple DUI convictions.”

Virginia, home of the headquarters for the National Rifle Association, saw the legislature flip from Republican to Democrat after the 2019 election.

The state’s concealed carry reciprocity law went through a temporary tweaking back in 2015, when the General Assembly found itself in a grudge match with Herring over firearms-related issues.

The Examiner said that Republicans initially refused to budge over passing two specific measures. The Attorney General ceased the concealed carry reciprocity agreements Virginia had with 25 states. Six of these states, which had recognized Virginia’s concealed carry permit on the condition that the Commonwealth recognize their concealed carry licenses, severedtheir agreements with Virginia as well.

Representatives from both sides of the aisle were able to reach a consensus on the measures, one associated with domestic violence and protective orders and the other related to state police being stationed at gun shows for background checks of private sellers.

Herring reinstated not only the original reciprocity agreements, but also created reciprocity pacts with every state that offers them. As a result of this deal, all out-of-state concealed carry permit holders could carry concealed in Virginia.

The summary of the bill says:

Out-of-state concealed handgun permits; reciprocity. Reinstates the prior law providing that the holder of an out-of-state concealed handgun permit who is at least 21 years of age is authorized to carry a concealed handgun in Virginia if the other state (i) has a 24-hour-a-day means of verification of the validity of the permits issued in that state and (ii) has requirements and qualifications that are adequate to prevent possession of a permit by persons who would be denied a permit in Virginia. Under current law, the holder of an out-of-state concealed handgun permit who is at least 21 years of age is authorized to carry a concealed handgun in Virginia if (a) the other state has a means of verification of the validity of the permits issued in that state, accessible 24 hours a day, if available; (b) the person carries a government-issued photo identification and displays it upon demand of a law-enforcement officer; and (c) the person has not previously had a Virginia concealed handgun permit revoked. The bill states that the Attorney General shall (1) determine whether states meet the requirements and qualifications of the bill, (2) maintain a registry of such states, and (3) make the registry available to law-enforcement officers for investigative purposes. The bill further requires the Attorney General to review the determinations of whether states meet the requirements and qualifications of the bill and update the registry accordingly every two years. The bill removes the requirement for the Superintendent of State Police to enter into agreements for reciprocal recognition with other states that require an agreement to be in place before the state will recognize a Virginia concealed handgun permit as valid in the state and provides that the Attorney General may enter into agreements for reciprocal recognition with any state qualifying for recognition. The bill also reinstates the recognition of certain Maryland concealed handgun permits and eliminates the requirement that the Superintendent of State Police enter into agreements for reciprocal recognition of concealed handgun permits or licenses with other states where agreements were in existence on December 1, 2015.

The entire bill can be read here.

Want to make sure you never miss a story from Law Enforcement Today? With so much “stuff” happening in the world on social media, it’s easy for things to get lost.

Make sure you click “following” and then click “see first” so you don’t miss a thing! (See image below.) Thanks for being a part of the LET family!