Guns Save Life image by Dale Lock.

by Dale Lock
Guns Save Life Sangamon County Regional Director

Today my son and I attended the Virginia Civilian Defense League (VCDL) lobby day event. As you know by now, the world did not come to an end and nothing bad happened. All this despite the fervent wishes of the media and Virginia’s Governor.

From my experience, I can tell you what I saw and I did not see any skinheads. Frankly, it was too darn cold! Nor did I see any misbehavior from anybody. The police acted polite and cordial and many marched on our side. Over the day, I saw a diverse, super-polite crowd from all walks of life having a good time on a pretty cold day.

Guns Save Life image by Dale Lock.

Our funniest sight today:  We saw a lady carrying dozens of eggs in a clear plastic bag towards the capitol building. A police officer noticed this too and followed her, only to lose interest when she entered the Waffle House. That restaurant had customers standing in line out the door.

Even leaving our hotel at 7am, traffic was a mess. People were supposed to park at Diamond field and take buses to downtown, but the VCDL sponsors were simply overwhelmed with turnout.

Instead, we used Uber and it worked great. Unbelievable service with Uber.

At 9am, the line spanned two blocks to enter the capital office building to talk to Virginia State Representatives (they call them Delegates here).

I photographed three patriots with signs that said “Gun rights are civil rights,” “Anti-racist/Pro-gun” and “Gun rights are trans rights.” John Boch put this picture up on The Truth About Guns website and I think it symbolizes the situation today. Gun rights belong to us all.

Guns Save Life photo by Dale Lock.

At another moment, I snapped a picture of six police officers holding a sign (pictured top of page) that said “We support the Second Amendment.”  I had to wait in line to shake their hands and thank them for coming.

Another lady had a sign in English and Spanish that said “I immigrated to the land of the free.”  A reporter was interviewing her.  She definitely didn’t fit the stereotype of a gun-owning American fed to us by the mainstream media.

Then there was the poor guy who couldn’t get a date in a house of ill repute. He carried a sign that read, “Gun laws save lives.”  That poor guy was not having a good time and didn’t stay long. In fact, he looked a little scared to me.

Guns Save Life image by Dale Lock.

I haven’t yet read the mainstream media reports, but there were certainly tens of thousands of people here. There might have been more. Maybe a lot more. You could not see the whole crowd from any point. The closest we got to the “entrance” to the fenced area was a half-block at 8am and by 11am, all we could hear were roaring cheers and chants of “U-S-A!” over and over again.

I was never prouder to be an American, surrounded by my fellow patriotic Americans. On nearby streets, a long line of semi truckers showed their support with American flags, “Don’t tread on me” flags, and heavy use of their airhorns and engine braking.

Guns Save Life image by Dale Lock.

Yes, Governor Northam surely heard them if he didn’t hear the roar of the crowd. Meanwhile, the police officers took pictures and waved at the trucks, smiling the whole time.

People open carried lots of guns – handguns, rifles and shotguns. I even saw two Mosin-Nagants carried.  Russians meddling in our elections, perhaps?

I saw an old Mauser bolt gun as well, and even a guy with an over-under shotgun. Oh, and there were hundreds (thousands?) of America’s favorite rifle there.  We saw excellent safe gun handling, including fingers off the trigger and I did not see any muzzle sweeps.  In short, they were far from a bunch of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals that people like Bloomberg think they are.

My son lives in Virginia and observed that this has really got people fired up and involved. His sense is that these people will stay involved and the next election may prove a bloodbath for the gun grabbers (at the ballot box).

Furthermore, we think many of the groups that Northam’s Democrats depended on at the ballot box are starting to realize that self-defense is an inalienable right for every one, no matter who they are, who they sleep with or the color of their skin.

All of the gun laws proposed in Virginia target law abiding citizens and do nothing to discourage criminal activity.

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98 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for sharing. Some of the MSM were poking fun of VCDL because they said the crowd wasn’t 130,000 people. I’m wondering what the appropriate estimates for the number of lobbying folks were.

  2. Saw a 50BMG. There was one group where the lead member had his AR in the low ready, saw a few others handling their rifle (some without a sling which could be considered brandishing), however there was none done in a threatening manner. Everyone was polite (armed society is a polite one…). Most of the crowd were “O”FWG however. There were a smattering of women, none in red shirts tho!

    Overall great event, a true grass roots event. Saw flags from Texas, Michigan, North Carolina and Alaska. Virginians thank those that travelled to support, know that it will be reciprocated!

    • Saw the .50BMG dude on another site. I think he would be better off swapping that Barret for an RN-50 and cash for some barbells. If you are going to bring a big bore to one of these rallies, carry it like a beast!

    • I saw more young, fit guys than old, fat guys. I would say I’m somewhere in the middle of those groups.

  4. We’ll see how this turns out for VA. I think if not there it will cause a major consternation in the next federal election cycle. I think Bloomberg Money will become a dangerous thing to get in purple areas for the next cycle.

  5. Um, nore than the overlords would let inside the “safety zone” to speak their minds?

    That would seem to be the relevant measure.

  6. VA Democraps are still going to pass the laws anyways so, doesn’t matter. They don’t give a damn and they made it clear they don’t, now VA will never get rid of them. And then they will proceed to rig the elections so that they won’t ever lose again.

    This is what they do.

    • I doubt they’ll pass much of anything. If one democrat votes against the gun control in the VA Senate and/or five vote against it in the VA House, and all republicans vote against it, it won’t pass.

      We’ve had a democrat majority in Washington for years and they fail to get gun control out of committee every single year. There are enough democrats in rural and suburban districts who know gun control will mean defeat in the next election. And events like today’s rally remind them of that.
      Good job Virginia! Also good job showing them how peaceful and respectful gun owners are.

      • Wouldn’t it be something if some of these Democrats would vote against their party, not because if they don’t they’ll lose the next election, but because it’s upholding the Constitution and the right thing to do.

        Even as old as I am, and having seen all the political fuckery I have, I still hold out hope that some Democrats have some honor and hold the civil rights of their fellow Americans dear.

        But, I’ve probably had too much wine.

        • No professional politician is ever actually in favor of public economy. It is his implacable enemy, and he knows it. All professional politicians are dedicated wholeheartedly to waste and corruption. They are the enemies of every decent man.
          H. L. Mencken

    • I hope Hal is wrong, but based on the passage of the SAFE act in New Yorkistan, I fear he’s right.

      We had 15,000 protesters on Cuomo’s front lawn on a Thursday and he still put the law into effect.

      • You’re right, they don’t give a damn. And Cuomo is still in office. And the legislature is still controlled by Democrats. Cuomo isn’t the disease, he’s a symptom. The same goes for the asshats in VA.

  7. I see that the fencing and crowd limits on the capitol lawn had the desired effect.

    Look at news reports or do a Google search for crowd footage, and you’ll find only photos of small groups and aerials that show barely 1/4 of the area in front of the capitol building occupied.

    Meanwhile, 10,000 people who were locked out of the crucial area in front of the state house crowded nearby streets — and if you weren’t there or didn’t know someone who was, you’ll never know it.

      • Sweet. I’m happy to be wrong about that number.

        Doesn’t change the Democrat/media shenanigans — in fact, makes it worse; those people should’ve been on the capitol steps. But the more people are there, the more doubt the progs will have about whether their propaganda really covered it up.

        Plus, if only half of those people vote against the Bloomberg teat-suckers in the next election, a lot of the D-bag quislings are going to be losing their seats. And their majority is pretty slim, so it’ll only take a handful of defections among the Democrats to derail their whole anti-gun agenda.

        Hope it puts some righteous fear into them.

    • Only 40 % of Virginians voted in the last election? And I’ll bet a significant proportion were gun owners.

  11. This could not have happened in the peaceful manner being reported. So many white supremacists firearm owners with their guns and not a single death? We have been told guns turn people violent. We were told this rally would result in violence. Were we lied too? What other lies are we being told?

    • “Were we lied to?”

      “Specifically, Northam said they’ve received threats including people detailing plans to storm the Capitol Building, use weaponized drones, and more.”

      Are we, the people allowed to view the intelligence reports that led to the state of emergency being declared? Otherwise, I’m calling BS. Was this just related to those three guys they picked up earlier?

      • A good journalist should FOIA everything they had and determine if any of the bullshit Northam was spouting about trouble makers was true in the least. Cowards like Northam always put extra security around themselves because they know what they are doing is actually wrong and an illegal power grab.

        • I had to look up 4chan, 8chan and 8kun on Wikipedia. I never knew there were anonymous sites like that which routinely delete old threads. You are probably right about finding something on those types of sites that ruined Northam’s sleep.

      • My bet is that those 3 did nothing wrong and were a publicity stunt, will be released within days. Hope they are smart enough to plead guilty to NOTHING!

  13. At the same time it’s being reported elsewhere that VA has had it’s highest level of gun sales activity since records started being kept in 1990, with 73,849 NICS checks last month.

  14. and the idiot Alex Jones putzing around in an armored truck screaming on a megaphone, yeah….good times. While the general tone was respectful and showed there was no intent to do harm Infowarts just couldn’t help themselves. I guess its all that toxicity from his supplements and fluoride that has him all revved up.

    • Did he start any fights? Did he hurt any one? Did he break any laws? No? Then stop punching right.

      • He’s a fool trying to provoke and incite people to stupid response. Thank you for concern but I’ll keep calling it as I see it.

    • When Obama gives civilian police departments free armored fighting vehicles. From the military. Then I have no problem with a civilian like Alex Jones having one. But Jones does need to tone it down a bit.

      • I don’t really disagree there…if someone wants to drop the money on something like that, that’s their right..doesn’t matter if they’re a doomsday prepper or someone who just wants to own one for the fun of it. Other than cranking the crazy way past 11 the issue I have is that just like the prosperity gospel promoters and TV evangelists Jones has built his empire on the back of the stupid, gullible, and weak. That armored truck and his platform isn’t as much earned as it is stolen, modern day snake oil.

        • Holy shit, a rational and well-thought out comment on this site? What is happening, what year is it???

  15. This is one of the greatest days in American history. When tens thousands of Americans from all walks of life came together openly carrying guns and carrying signs and stickers, saying “guns save lives”.

    No one was hurt. But many friendships were started today. We taught the world how to do it. And we have guns.

    btw
    As I have said before If you are going to open carry a Long Gun, at least carry a sign that says “I’m the good guy with a gun”.
    Or a sticker the says “Gun Save Lives”. I bet sticker costs less and your hands will be free to do whatever you please.

    • Good to hear that things went well from our side there. Hopefully this will make Northam look bad.

      ABC news just showed the march, and they did mention there were over 20K 2A supporters with guns outside the security zone.

        • Can anyone point me to a law under which he can immigrate legally? I have heard that only legal way is to marry an American or win a green card lottery. How can married man who is unlucky in lottery legally become a US citizens? Asking for a friend.

        • Have a skillset American companies want, get hired, and they’ll help sponsor you to get a work visa and get in line for a green card. No fast or easy, but that’s how my Aussie wife’s father got them to the States.

        • I think you go to the American Embassy in your home country, and they help you fill out the appropriate forms.

    • Freedom and liberty are precious ideals that are under constant threat from tyranny, James. In contrast to most other nations our revolutionary founders understood this and, in framing the 2nd Amendment, provided free Americans with the rights to possess the arms necessary to resist governmental tyranny. Time and again, gun-control efforts come up hard against this clearly stated, unambiguous rights. What was being demonstrated today is that, regardless of what some tin-pot politician might think, the 2nd Amendment means exactly what it says.

  19. It may be a lousy next couple of years for alot of Virginians. And Floridians.
    The next few election cycles will require all to get off their collective asses and vote all of these Libtard morons out of office.
    I wish we would do the same here in Florida. Almost all current politicians are complete scum. No matter what party they are from as they all will lie right to your face. Unfortunately there being no way to know who got paid off. But we do know by who.
    Bloomberg may he die a natural death and soon. Has been paying off politicians for years. The best real example of a man with no respect for anyone but himself. Who thinks his money makes him better then you are. If anything it shows what a F@#$%^f he is.
    He paid off most of the wunnerful idjits you have in Virginia last cycle.
    He bought Savino here for half a million bucks last election.
    These degenerate politicians all have to go and personally I dont care how anymore.
    I just want them gone. Replaced by if there are any. Honest folks left who still give a damm.

    • As I said in a few posts here yesterday.
      Nothing to see here go on home.

      I didnt expect anything to happen and it didnt. So there Gubbner…………what ever your name is fill in the blank.

  21. I was pretty concerned this event might turn into a bad scene, but despite the pre-event hysteria couched by some people, I believed Gun Owning Americans would prove themselves to be the rational, level headed, peaceable people I thought them to be.

    I thank and applaud each and every one of you for proving I put my faith in the right place with the right people. God Bless you all and God Bless the true and real America!!

  22. Heartfelt congratulations to everyone who organized the event, brought friends and family and kept it in good order. You are part of what makes and keeps America great!

    While you should each feel proud and strong – and you are! – the job is not done. The legislature remains in session. VCDL and other organizations have links from their websites and social media so you can email your representatives. In fact, VCDL’s is automated and will repeat the message as you direct until the message is understood.

    Calendar every election date. Right now. No forgetting. There is a calendar here: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/calendars-schedules/upcoming-elections.html

    It begins with this one which is relatively close: Deadline to register to vote, or update an existing registration, is Monday, February 10, 2020. Bring every one of your friends and families and make sure they are registered (and you too!). A huge upswing in registered voters associated with this event will do as much as the event itself.

    Remember which members of local government supported Sanctuary City resolutions and which ones didn’t. Vote out the ones who didn’t at the local elections. Vote in every single election including the national election November 3. 2020.

    Every single one.

    Virginia was “lost” by 10,000 votes. More than that showed up at Richmond today. If each of the 22,000 participants brought five friends or family members to the voting booth, Virginia would be “saved” by over 100,000 votes.

  23. I was concerned that this was a set up and that ANTIFA would start trouble and it would be blamed on regular , peace loving constitutional Americans. maybe the socialists should re-think their radicalism if it has been reputed by Antifa. A bridge too far ? So happy this was peaceful and respectful, God bless America and it’s patriotic citizens ! saw a liberal commentator that said the reason that there was no trouble was because of gov. Newsoms’ emergency decree. Thought, this is BECAUSE of Newsoms’ socialism that this occurred at all, amazing.

    • I have little respect for the intelligence of the average Antifa member, but I doubt we’re going to see them bring their clubs and shit to a demonstration where people are actually armed. Look for them in gun free zones.

  24. It’s unfortunate that most people decided not to lobby at the capital by standing on streets instead. The crowd didn’t appear all that big when the speeches were being given nor could you really hear the speakers.

    I believe I heard chants of “build the wall.” That wasn’t a good look when the crowd was 99% European-American.

    Another big disappointment was the crowd itself being predominately European-American males and the average age appearing to be 45 . The very stereotypical idea of whom owns guns and doesn’t want gun control. At least it looked more like a VCDL and GOA lobby day than a NRA and Trump rally. So that’s was an improvement.

    There was so much opportunity to do more than just stand in the area where snipers setup to overwatch the crowd. The crowd seemed very uneducated about America and how to put on a show that could be remembered for a long time. It was a very sedate tantrum of “we will not disarm to exercise our right to petition for redress.”

    I don’t know where people are going to go from here. The sanctuary movement was dead on arrival due to the fact it has no legal authority. Lobby day was largely a fear mongering build up that was ultimately a dud that most won’t consider a historic event and will be ignored by the government of Virginia.

    There was no resignation of the governor. There was no future plan drawn up for the next election. There was no organizing for more resistance.

    The leftists are much better at politics than the average gun owner.

    It was sad that the stereotypical gun owner scared away one time allies. It would have been amazing to see the BLM/Panther types, the Antifa types, feminists and stereotypical gun owners standing side by side in resistance to the Democrat establishment. Imagine that photo. That would have been historic.

    • I guess we’ll see what the long term consequences of this are. I doubt there are more than a handful of people in any of those groups that could find common cause with us. They wouldn’t be them if they did. It’s probably more important to get the people who agree with us to actually do something, like vote. I know several people who seem to be pro gun rights but have never voted…

    • tend to disagree…those people represent a substantial voting bloc…once was part of a similar sized protest..in my case for collective bargaining rights…and we got the legislation passed…you could see the politicos in the windows apparently counting…

      • In this case, they limited the crowd in front of the capitol bldg. to half capacity and the politicians stayed home so they wouldn’t have to count.

        Literally everything the modern left says about itself is exactly opposite of the truth — right down to their party’s name. The Democratic party is many things, few of them good, and none of them democratic.

    • The capitol police fenced off a large portion of the front lawn, cutting down the potential square footage inside the fence. They also capped the attendees inside. Believe me, there was plenty of energy and it was 30 degrees in the sunshine. I don’t begrudge any of the kitted-out folks on the outside. They acquitted themselves great — all those assault high clipazine weapons of war and not one ND! One police officer I thanked said this was his favorite crowd. We cleaned up after ourselves and left the streets spotless.

      As to your “concern” about the demo of the crowd, what of it? Are white men’s desires any less legitimate than a more diverse group’s? Sure, the media seizes on that as if to paint us as some sort of white power group. The correct response is to ask the question I just asked, not gnash teeth if there aren’t enough nonwhites or women.

      No one expected Northam to resign. This was not about that. This was us speaking up and letting the state assembly know they pursue infringement at their peril. I vehemently disagree that the left is better at politics. What they beat us at is culture. We’re all out to change that by being polite and professional. The news could not deny that a crowd of armed mostly white men were the exemplars of American virtue today.

      • Right alongside those who were armed and NOT white. I suspect the majority of those present, armed or not, were Americans, which is a very non-diverse group, very inclusive instead of fractious. When we get back to being Americans, Democrats will have no platform.

    • There were plenty of armed black and brown folks there – they were treated with respect just like the armed white folks. This is not about race, as much as the media wants it to be.

      • Just as gay folks have observed, armed gays don’t get bashed. Or armed blacks, or Hispanics, etc. Want respect? Carry a gun.

    • C. Censor says “..Another big disappointment was the crowd itself being predominately European-American males..”

      C. Censor’s comments are typical for him, he only sees a persons skin color. His many posts here revolve around his obsession with race. A self-described white male who likes to self flagellate, C. Censor wants others to join him in his self-hate.

      If it wasn’t for Vlad and Miner, C. Censor would be this forums top Troll.

      • You do understand that your identity was created by rich European men to divide you from other humans in an effort to pass laws that infringe on human rights? Some of those consequences remain today.

        Definitely the identity politics created by those types is still powerful and being used right now. Instead of continuing to use it to rally the European-American male voting bloc, the most powerful at the time, they are now winning over the non European-American and non male voting bloc to win elections and pass laws.

        If you want to win elections and remove anti human rights laws you must understand the U.S. was created via identity politics. You can’t simply erase what the Europeans did to North America with their physiological operations because it’s been conditioned into the American people’s minds for centuries. So called white males can’t just tell non whites and females to ignore their identity because it no longer benefits the so called white male to partake in such politics/mindset.

        It’s almost always a European-American male that wants to deny a person’s personal identity in an effort to remove them of political power. This is a losing strategy until people understand what natural rights are. You can’t tell a woman she shouldn’t be worried about men because she is just like a man. You can’t tell a poor black male, living in an artificially poor neighborhood, that he shouldn’t point out how opportunities were intentionally removed from that area (many years ago) so in the future his people would still be dependent on others.

        That’s what white guilt types do. They try to deny people their language, culture and their ethnicity so history won’t be taught and current issues (due to that past) won’t be noticed. Because once everyone understands how America was created the entire country will have to go through a massive change towards liberty and justice for all. All the privileges and artificial barriers will have to be removed, which will create a true competitive field of equality of opportunity for everyone to compete in. Of course this will make it much harder on European-American males because (mostly) women, Jews and Asians will start to push them out of areas where they had an artificially created advantage.

        You are just mad that I don’t ignore how American politics is today. I am not ashamed or feel any guilt, thus I am completely fine talking about history and allowing people to have their identity as they see it. I am not one of those people that think America should only have one “identity,” one language, one religion, etc. There simply has to be one underlining understanding of life, liberty and property for all human beings.

        America has been diverse since the day the Europeans landed on the Americas and brought African slaves with them. Even before they arrived the Americas was a multicultural environment. It’s unfortunate European-Americans refuse to see that…

  25. This is proof that the democrat governor overreacted because he did not trust honest gun owners and he should be charged for all the expenses charged for extra security he had put in

  26. As gun owners and supporters of our 2nd Amendment rights, we stand together side-by-side with law enforcement, veterans, military, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and everybody else because we are Americans who love this great country and the right to protect ourselves and our families. God gave us this right to protect ourselves, and by His blessings, we will fight to always keep this right that He granted to us so that no one can ever take this right away in order to control us as Americans and patriots.

  27. Proud of AlLL 2A Americans that were able to be there. “Thank You!!!!” from many of us out on the West! And thank you for showing the world the truth about us! Peace.

  28. I guess there wasn’t enough Klansmen. white supremacists, or violence for our resident cocksucker Vlad to show up tonight.

  30. My hope is the POTG will not let up the pressure. We must ensure that our arguments are not swept under the rug and forgotten. Maybe hold a rally on a quarterly basis?

    • To the extent that demonstrations inspire voter turn-out in favor of GOP or others who won’t support gun control. Demonstrations won’t affect what the progs do. They are completely convinced of their own self-righteousness.

    • Though, if you want to attend but absolutely ensure that you won’t be seen on TV or in the papers, that’s a good strategy.

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