Help us Obi-Wan Kenobi, er, uh Gov. Glenn Youngkin, you're our only hope.

If you thought Virginia Democrats might slow their anti-gun crusade after their party took a shellacking at the polls across the country this past November yet retained slim majorities over both the state senate and legislature, think again. Fortunately, the Old Dominion has a Republican attorney general, lieutenant governor and governor, the latter who is ready to wield his veto pen like a battle axe. And after years of failed attempts, Senate Dems are still throwing everything they can at the wall in the hopes that just one of their restrictive, unconstitutional bills might stick.

On Monday, in a desperate bid to reclaim lost ground, the Democrat-controlled Senate pushed through a flurry of gun control measures along party lines. Their crown jewel? A ban on so-called “assault weapons,” a vague, politically convenient term they’ve used to target some of the most popular and commonly owned rifles in the country.

Of course, this isn’t their first rodeo. The same ban has passed the Senate three times before, only to get shut down in the Republican-controlled House or buried under the weight of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s veto stamp. Last year, Youngkin made it crystal clear where he stood, stating that banning a broad category of firearms used for self-defense and other lawful purposes was a direct violation of the Constitution. Yet, Democrats remain unfazed, running the same failed play over and over again in hopes of a different result.

A Laundry List of Nonsense

The assault weapons ban is just the beginning. Virginia Democrats have also doubled down on laws that would criminalize gun owners for simply exercising their rights. Among their latest attempts:

  • Mandatory locked storage laws – While proper storage of firearms is something every gun owner should practice, should the government really be the one telling us how to do it and punishing law-abiding citizens who have a right to determine how they live inside their homes. How do you even enforce a law like this until after the fact. Education, not legislation, is the key here. 
  • Banning guns in hospitals with mental health services – Last year, Youngkin tried to strike a compromise that would prevent firearms from being transferred to mental health patients, but Democrats rejected it. Now they’re back, trying to ram through an even more restrictive version that forbids even concealed carry permit holders from lawfully carrying where current law allows.
  • More restrictions on concealed carry – Senate Bill 1329 would strip law-abiding Virginians of their right to keep a firearm in their vehicle for self-defense unless they have a concealed carry permit. Sen. David Marsden, D-Burke, claims this will stop gun thefts from cars, while Sen. Mark Obenshain, a Republican, rightly pointed out that the bill would do the exact opposite—forcing gun owners to leave their firearms in plain sight rather than securing them inside their vehicles. Currently Virginia allows open carry, including in vehicles, meaning with this law, it would be legal to leave a gun lying on your car seat or dashboard, but illegal to lock it up in a console or locked storage box in your vehicle. Tell me how that makes sense?
  • A ban on “ghost guns” – Democrats are still obsessed with outlawing homemade firearms, despite the fact that criminals overwhelmingly get their guns through theft or illegal street sales—not from people 3D-printing receivers in their basements.

And perhaps the most absurd of all:

  • A five-day waiting period for gun purchases – Besides being a chronic hassle for law-abiding gun owners to have to go back and forth multiple times to make a single purchase, such a law leaves people who need to protect themselves, such as victims of violent crime such as domestic abuse, vulnerable and unable to protect themselves for five days. Instead of offering an immediate carve-out for those in danger as suggested by Republicans, Democrats insisted the bill should pass as-is, promising they’d “fix it later.” They’re always so good at fixing things later, right? Some people need to really think about how they want to vote before going to the polls, maybe we should suggest a five-day waiting period after you come to the polls, you go back home for five days and then come back to vote. I’m sure they’d lose their minds over that!

And for good measure, Senate Dems also voted to raise the age for purchasing an “assault firearm” to 21—unless, of course, you’re in law enforcement or the military. Because in their world, an 18-year-old is responsible enough to carry a rifle into combat or strap on a badge, but not to defend his own home, while a 16-year-old should be able to vote, but must be warned not to eat Tide Pods, and a 12-year-old should be allowed to make the decision to have sex-altering surgery while none of them can even sit in a Congressional hearing and define something as simple as what a man and a woman are. 

Common sense? Democrats love to throw that word around when suggesting restrictive gun legislation yet prove in every other aspect, they don’t know what the hell “common sense” is.

Thank God for the Guv

While Virginia’s House of Delegates still needs to vote on these measures, and with a Democratic majority (51-49) it will likely pass down party lines, there’s little doubt that Gov. Youngkin will once again serve as the last line of defense for gun owners and true common-sense citizens in the Commonwealth. The Republican governor has already rejected similar restrictions before, and nothing in these bills suggests they’d fare any better on his desk this time around, meaning the Democrat’s bills are more about showboating and hoping the tide turns in their favor by the next gubernatorial election

But make no mistake—this flurry of anti-gun legislation is a sign of things to come. Virginia Democrats, desperate to cling to whatever scraps of power they still hold, are doubling down on the same tired gun control playbook that has failed them time and time again. With Youngkin holding firm and gun owners increasingly mobilized, it’s clear that the real battle for Virginia’s Second Amendment rights and a stand for freedom of all Virginians lies ahead on Nov. 4, 2025, when the state will elect a new governor.

As per state law, Youngkin cannot run for re-election, so at this time it looks like Abigail Spanberger, a Beltway veteran who is a former CIA spook and the architect behind many of these anti-gun laws will run for the Dems, while the current Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a popular pro-gun Republican, is expected to run for the seat for her party. It will be interesting to see how the Democrats message their attacks on Earle-Sears, who is both a woman and black, two common attack points used by Democrats to go after typically white male candidates that won’t be available for them to use in this election.

29 COMMENTS

  1. Of course they will keep doubling down on it, all of it. They still think they lost the election because the didn’t do a good enough job on messaging. And, of course, racism, sexism, etc. etc.

    As someone who would dearly love to see the US Democrat party dry up and blow away, I hope they keep this up. And to Joy Reid, you’re right: Kamala had a perfect campaign. Please keep going into debt to bribe a-list celebs to endorse Kamala and scold all the stupid little people who are not enlightened enough to vote Democrat.

    Eventually the leftists probably will start to listen to some of the more calculating people on that side, but hopefully it will at least take a while.

  2. The list is essentially the same no matter where they do it.

    I’m annoyed that SCOTUS allowed this “sensitive spaces” stuff to be left up to the states.

    We need to go back to the old school Constitution, pre-14A incorporation doctrine or we need to go whole hog on post-14A incorporation doctrine. Stop with the half-assed approach to this.

  3. The Democrat Party has always been anti-civil rights. If you call yourself a loyal democrat who owns guns you’re just a fool. Your time was back in the 1980s.
    With the “Regan democrats.”

    They are all dead. Along with president Regan.

  4. Just because you ride a burro doesn’t mean you have to be an ass.
    DJTtump won the popular vote little demme’s, you can quit playing the Joe Biden game now.

  5. Historically there have been sensitive places where you couldn’t bring a gun. But those places where very limited. A prison or jail. And some saloons kept your gun until you left the business.

    But back then we had morality in the country. And your property was returned to you. No waiting. Unfortunately the country has lost that morality regarding honoring private property.

    • Historically there have been sensitive places where you couldn’t hide a gun.
      Well That all changed with the big purple dilldo and what am I?

  6. My comments waiting moderation. My comments waiting moderation.
    My comments waiting moderation.
    Bullshit.
    Waiting moderation means it ain’t going to post.
    What did I say?
    I voted for Biden and have an I Q of two, does TTAG know the trouble I go to just to spell words like shall not be infranged?
    Waiting moderation.

  7. “While proper storage of firearms is something every gun owner should …”

    Says who? It’s in my house/on my property so any other opinions are irrelevant.

  8. Though Glenn Youngkin has yet to disappoint …… hell he’s far superior to my former governor (Chris Christie in N.J.) when it comes to firearms I sure would’ve liked Amanda Chase in the governor’s office in Richmond.

  9. Their messaging against Sears will be the same they used against Mark Robinson.

    Anyone who thinks that because she’s black she’s a more effective candidate is a fool.

    She served one-term in the GA, lost reelection, backed Tim Kaine over Corey Stewart in 2018 and has never done anything to advance any conservative agenda items.

    Gun owners putting their faith in this empty suit will be disappointed. At least in NC we have the GA. You Virginians should prepare to surrender your gun rights next year, because she’s a horrible candidate with no message other than “making history.”

  10. If the GOP (State and National) don’t get off their butts, Spanberger(D) will win in November. The state GOP is split between the old guard republicans and the new MAGA coalition. The old RINOs are determined to hold onto power until every last one of them is in the grave. They run the consultants and the consultants constantly mismanage the messaging for any new candidates that run. If you aren’t in their coalition, good luck getting one GOP penny from them.

    WE NEED HELP! Hoping all we need is a black, female candidate will not work to get the NASCAR class out in droves to cancel out the solid blue Northern Va. votes.

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