Despite considerable backlash from its conservative, rural constituents, Virginia’s Democratic-controlled legislature has decided to pursue a gun control-focused agenda.

Just last week, the state Senate advanced three bills that would restrict gun rights. SB 70 establishes a mandatory background check for any transfer of firearms, including private sales. SB 69 institutes a “one gun a month” law, limiting citizens to one handgun purchase within a 30-day period with certain exceptions. And SB 35 allows local governments to ban the possession of firearms in public spaces during certain events, such as protests. Democrats also advanced a bill that would establish a red flag law, allowing law enforcement to petition courts for the right to confiscate weapons from those deemed harmful to themselves and/or others. Though a ban on “assault-style” weapons has not yet been passed, the legislature could be heading in that direction.

This is a dramatic step toward limiting the free exercise of rights enjoyed by a significant number of the commonwealth's citizens. And Monday’s pro-Second Amendment rally in Richmond proved that there would be serious political consequences if Democrats continue to push an unwanted agenda down the throats of gun owners.

The election that put Democrats in control of the state last year was a close one. Virginia has been a historically red state, and it only recently began to lean toward the Left — thanks to the three northern counties right outside of Washington, D.C. Public opinion on gun control at the time of the election was narrowly divided, too. And although recent polls suggest that public opinion favors the Democrats’ gun control initiatives, it’s difficult to ignore the more than 22,000 people who attended Monday’s protest and the more than 100 counties that have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries.

Republican state Del. Nick Rush told the Washington Examiner that the Democrats’ stubborn refusal to listen would “energize a lot of folks that maybe haven’t traditionally come out and voted in off-year elections.”

“I’m sure that rural Virginia and folks who believe in the Second Amendment are going to be out in force in 2020,” he said.

Rush is right: With this new push for gun control, Virginia Democrats have created a single-issue constituency. Any given voter who owns a gun will now feel a personal, vested interest in the next election. And their votes will undoubtedly reflect that interest come November.