Dismissing rhetoric from Democrats that armed Second Amendment supporters are threatening to stir up a Monday rally at the Virginia Capitol, activists ordered to disarm to get close to the protest site are asking armed friends and family to “watch over us.”

Under rules set in place by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and endorsed by state courts, guns will be banned inside a large fenced-in area around the Capitol, even for those with carry permits.

Outside the area, however, guns will be allowed.

If you are planning to attend Lobby Day on Monday, here is a look at the entrance & exits for Capitol Square. Visitors will be screened at the entrance at 9th Street & East Grace Street. This is also an exit. Three additional exits are near the corner of 9th Street & Bank Street. pic.twitter.com/PWEZ2JC1jV — VACapitol2020 (@VACapitol2020) January 16, 2020

As a result, one of the groups leading the annual “lobby day” rally has asked that those who are legally armed protect those unarmed inside the “cage" should any anti-gun activist group cause a fight.

“If you can commit to being one of our needed 10,000 unarmed members inside the fence, please help us by asking several of your family and friends to be your designated armed escort to the gates and to stand outside the fenced area to watch over us,” said an alert from the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

“Stand with us, legally armed if you so choose, just outside the fence and watch over your brothers and sisters inside the fence,” said the group. Tens of thousands of pro- and anti-gun protesters are expected for the Monday morning event.

Northam and other gun-control politicians have been suggesting that far right pro-gun groups plan to disrupt the event. The state has said it wants to prevent “another Charlottesville,” where white supremacists clashed with counterprotesters over Civil War monuments.

Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia. That’s what happens when you vote for Democrats, they will take your guns away. Republicans will win Virginia in 2020. Thank you Dems! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2020

But VCDL and other gun groups like Gun Owners of America and the National Rifle Association have claimed that it is the liberals who are eager to stir up fights in hopes the gun-rights activists get blamed.

VDCL has even warned members to not take the bait. It said this week, “If someone tries to provoke you, smile and walk away. There is probably someone secretly recording the interaction, with the intent of capturing some kind of inappropriate reaction on your part. Don't take the bait. It's not worth the bad press.”

The group added, “The Democrats are afraid of the voters and want to portray this peaceful assembly of law-abiding gun owners in the worst possible way. They would love for it to degenerate to ‘violence, rioting, and insurrection’ in order to smear gun owners. Has the Democrat leadership actually invited violent groups to attend for the purpose of disrupting our peaceful assembly?”

In its latest note, the group that has hosted peaceful lobby days since 2002 pointed out that those inside the caged in are will be allowed one defense — a pocket knife with a blade less than three inches long.

President Trump appeared to endorse that view that gun owners are under assault. In a tweet yesterday, he wrote, “Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia. That’s what happens when you vote for Democrats, they will take your guns away. Republicans will win Virginia in 2020. Thank you Dems!”

In the 2019 elections, Virginia voted to put Democrats in charge of the legislature, and they moved fast to approve three gun control measures in a state that is home to the NRA and that has ignored gun control pushes in other states.