What's Happening in Virginia?

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Introduction:

Virginia has become a hotbed for pro- and anti- 2nd Amendment activism in the past few months. There are some big things going on recently and in the near future that I want to go over here. Hopefully I can do the issues justice and give you, the reader, a good overview of what is going on. I also am going to throw in some of my own analysis of the situation and how I can see things panning out. Hopefully Virginians are able to maintain their rights, and it all goes down peacefully.

Details:

The issues present in Virginia go back to November of 2019. Virginia held their elections and after which, Democrat politicians were in control of all three branches of the state government. This is an issue in its own right, especially given today's political polarization. Because neither left nor right seem willing to compromise, either side having majorities in all three branches of government can be dangerous. They effectively create a political cabal that will push through the hyper-partisan policies that ignite their base constituents. I believe that this can happen with right-wing politics, but I see that it is happening with left-wing politics in Virginia. As of today, January 13th, a Virginia senate committee passed bills that would do the following:

1. Implement 'red flag' laws
2. Require registration of any and all 'assault weapons' with the state police
3. Ban new sales of  'assault weapons' and 'large capacity' magazines
4. Limit sales of certain firearms to one per month

I encourage everyone to read the most overreaching bill here. In reading these bills, they seem like they would be far too radical to pass, but in our current political climate and the shifts to the margins that have happened on both sides, I can see it happening.

I'm not the only one that can see it passing either, suburban and rural Virginians all across the state have gone out to their local governments and voted themselves at second-amendment sanctuary counties (an obvious play on the existence of "sanctuary cities" for illegal immigrants).

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As you can see on the man, a majority of Virginia's counties have voted to give themselves this sanctuary status. In most instances, this means that the local governemnt will refuse to enforce state laws that they decide infringe on the 2nd Amendment. I feel like this represents a trend that we are only going to see more and more of in America as time goes on.

In Virginia, there are populations centers that lean to the left politically, and then the rest of the state. There are serious implications for this. This means that much of what happens in the state can be determined by people that live in just a small slice of the state's territory. This can serve to alienate the right-wing, rural communities, as the law begins to hit closer and closer to home. And you see these situations in many states. Oregon is another good example of left-wing, populous enclaves, surrounded by right-wing contryside. Because you have these conditions combined with hyper-partisan policies, these less populous areas are becoming more and more politically active. These people are typically called the 'grassroots right'. 

In his podcast It Could Happen Here, host Robert Evans explains how these sorts of conditions can ignite a fire that erupts into armed political violence. He talks about 'flash points', as in, points where the government overstepps just enough to where people get up and take to the streets. The situation in Virginia can be that flash point for people.

Analysis and Conclusion:

The proposed laws in Virginia, should they be passed, would create a flash point for Virginia gun owners and for people throughout the country. I honestly don't get why the Virginian politicians are pushing this so strongly. Should the proposed ban on sale and transportation go into effect, the only thing it will do is drive transaction underground and create a whole class of potential felons. There is a march on the Virginian capital set for the 20th of this month. The Virginian government just recently passed a law prohibiting guns from the capital. You can bet that more than a few of those protestors are going to be armed. Only time will tell whats going to happen.