No matter which way the political pendulum swings, always expect the parasite class to infringe upon your liberties at every available opportunity when they have power. This is no different in the Commonwealth of Virginia, as recently our electorate underwent a political shake up in last years gubernatorial race, with Democrat former CIA analyst Abigail Spanberger seizing the reins of state power and becoming Virginia’s first female governor.
Yet beneath the noise of culture war identity politics that accompanied this race, it was obvious that neither candidate would be a win for Virginians. And now the governor’s office is quick at work to infringe on the Second Amendment as much as possible, as Virginia Democrats often do when given the chance.
Amid this anti gun crusade, which has in reality always been a crusade against constitutionally protected self defense rights, the state legislature has recently passed various bills that trample on the gun rights of Virginians.
Civil Liability for Firearms Manufacturers
Senate Bill 27 intends to curtail firearm sales by attempting to hold gun makers and sellers accountable for the actions of those who purchased their products.
Acording to WRIC ABC 8 news:
Under Senate Bill 27, firearms manufacturers and distributors can be sued if they don’t take “reasonable controls” to prevent illegal or dangerous sales. This includes preventing sales to straw purchasers, gun traffickers, people legally barred from having guns and individuals at substantial risk of harming themselves.
Expansion of Red Flag Laws
Red flag laws, that is legislation which allow confiscation of an individual’s firearms if someone simply reports they may be a threat to themselves or others, are one of the most blatantly unconstitutional laws flouting due process.
As explained by constitutional attorney John W Whitehead,
While in theory it appears perfectly reasonable to want to disarm individuals who are clearly suicidal and/or pose an “immediate danger” to themselves or others, where the problem arises is when you put the power to determine who is a potential danger in the hands of government agencies, the courts and the police.
This power leaves the door wide open for abuse from the state as well as private citizens, and over the years has already had real world consequences. Such was the infamous case of the assassination of Duncan Lemp, a 21 year old liberty activist in lawful possession of firearms who was gunned down in his sleep in an early morning SWAT raid under false pretenses using just such a law. Lemp’s murder occurred just across Virginia’s northern border in the neighboring state of Maryland.
In Virginia legislature, House Bill 901 seeks to expand this deadly power even further.
Plastic Firearms Prohibition
For nearly a decade the emergence of 3D printed firearms has been a booming industry despite demonization from both government and mainstream media alike, and more importantly, a win for personal liberty.
Despite this, politicians have continued to fear monger about the dreaded “untraceable ghost guns”, and as such introduced legislation in an attempt to curtail their manufacture.
House Bill 40 aims to outlaw the creation, possession, or transferring of “any plastic firearm” and “any firearm that…is not detectable as a firearm by…X-ray machines.”
However, it’s unlikely you can put the genie back in the bottle. 3D printed weaponry is only becoming more sophisticated, with The Free Thought Project recently reporting the latest developments in decentralized defense: 3D printed guided rockets.
Mandatory Gun Buyback Programs
Despite the fact that gun buyback programs have historically shown to have little to no effect decreasing violent crime, encouraging lawful citizens to disarm themselves in exchange for monetary reward is a common tactic of anti gun crusaders.
Virginia’s House Bill 702 aims to make it mandatory for each county and city within the Commonwealth to develop and implement such programs by January 1st, 2028.
As TFTP has previously reported, gun buybacks can come with unintended consequences. In 2022, two major gun buyback events left local governments with egg on their face. In August of that year one man realized he could exploit the program and brought 62 recently printed 3D guns to a buyback event in Houston, Texas, trading the cheaply made guns for a $150 gift card each, ultimately making over $3000. Months later, in New York, another man had the same idea and made off with $21,000.
Ending Open Carry
In addition to various bills limiting certain locations where individuals have previously carried firearms with no consequence, including Senate Bill 272 — which prohibits firearms in all public buildings; Senate Bill 173 — disallowing the presence of firearms at mental health facilities; and House Bill 909 no longer allowing for the carrying of firearms near polling stations, these restrictions seem not to be enough.
Sen. Michael Jones (D–Richmond) introduced Senate Bill 727, which aims to outlaw carrying semiautomatic rifles and pistols with a magazine capacity exceeding 10 rounds in “any…place of whatever nature that is open to the public.”
The obvious drawback of this is that the vast majority of firearms owned for both concealed and open carry exceed that 10 round limit.
Del. Wren Williams (R-Patrick) recently criticized the measure, saying —
“This bill strips the carry rights of concealed handgun permit holders in parks, on public sidewalks, and in public spaces, including streets and roads, across Virginia, for firearms that are already legally owned and legally carried. Your permit now means nothing.”
‘Assault Weapons’ Ban
But of course, all of this still isn’t enough to satiate the whims of tyrants. Nope, manufacturer liability, red flag laws, 3D print prohibitions, mandatory buybacks, and eviscerating open cary rights are just small potatoes compared to their most ambitious goal.
Senate Bill 749 aims to effectively make thousands of law abiding Virginians felons overnight.
The logically and constitutionally dubious bill will ban the sale of the arbitrarily defined so-called “assault weapons” such as the popular AR-15 as well as magazines that exceed a capacity of 15 rounds.
Speaking about SB-749, Del. Wren Williams said,
“After July 1, you cannot buy, sell, or transfer a semiautomatic rifle or pistol with a detachable magazine and a single cosmetic feature, a pistol grip, a thumbhole stock, a threaded barrel. You cannot sell it to your neighbor. You cannot give it to your brother-in-law. Your son can inherit the rifle, but the magazines that feed it have no inheritance exception. They become contraband the moment they change hands. One generation from now, those magazines are gone.”
As Reason Magazine explains, the logic here is hard to follow:
“With or without these features, a rifle fires the same ammunition at the same rate with the same muzzle velocity. Adding a threaded barrel, a flash suppressor, or a folding stock does not make the weapon any deadlier. And while the other features might improve control of the rifle, that advantage does not make much difference in a scenario where a gunman is indiscriminately firing at a group of unarmed people.
On its face, the magazine limit makes more sense, since the seconds required to switch magazines might provide an opportunity for victims to escape or disarm the shooter. But the wide availability of magazines already in circulation undermines any potential public safety benefit. Of the 1 billion or so magazines that have been sold in the United States since 1990, according to a 2024 report from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), about three-quarters hold more than 10 rounds, while nearly half hold 30 or more.”
In addition to this, we should recall that a nationwide assault weapons ban has already been attempted before, and the federal government’s own data indicates it was a failure. One should also keep in mind the fact that data clearly, consistently indicates that long guns such as rifles are only used in the smallest fraction of shootings, and the ever obvious fact that in regard to prohibition — criminals, by nature, do not follow the law! Meanwhile, FBI data shows five times the amount of people are killed with knives rather than rifles. When’s the last time a politician proposed a ban on “assault blades”?
Whether or not Virginia’s assault weapons ban will actually make its way through the state legislature is yet to be seen. Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a prominent champion of Virginia gun rights, has said his organization Intends to challenge the bill in the Supreme Court.
The deadline for Governor Spanberger to sign the bills into law is April 13th, which she is likely to do given her past support for such measures.
Regardless of the outcome, Virginians, and Americans in general, must always be hypervigilant and conscious of the fact that rights are not granted by the government. They are inherent, and one’s right to self defense is among the most sacred. The state has no right to dictate which tools an individual may or may not utilize for their own protection, and any attempt to do so must be met with mass noncompliance.
Sic Semper Tyrannis ~ Thus Always To Tyrants
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