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VCDL Lobby Day 2022 Wrap Up

Emails Sent to Legislators

Last week apparently many people did not see the alert to send an email to their Senator and Delegate on key bills in the General Assembly.  Only about 1,600 emails were sent.  A second alert went out the next day to get everyone’s attention and the emails jumped to over 8,000 sent within 24 hours!  That’s more like it.  But even then, we can do better.

One glitch in the system is that OneClick Politics, the company that provides the email service, had not updated their database with the freshman delegates, but promised to do so this week.  So future alerts with email action items should not have any issues.



Attendance at Lobby Day

Gun owner attendance at Lobby Day was light to say the least.  Much lighter than I had hoped.

No doubt the bad weather on Sunday played a major role in the diminished turnout, with some parts of the state getting hammered.  However, weather in central and eastern Virginia was just fine on Lobby Day.

But there were other reasons besides the weather that caused many gun owners to stay at home.

Many were disappointed that we didn’t have a rally this year.  Trust me on this: no one was more disappointed than VCDL leadership.  We just couldn’t do it this year, especially with Ex-Governor Northam having the power to either deny our request for a permit or canceling the rally on a whim, even after the rally had begun.  I currently have no reason to expect such dirty tricks from the Youngkin Administration.

Of course, none of us like being disarmed.  Pat Webb and I absolutely hate it.  But we are still showing up at the General Assembly because we are trying to fix the wrongs that have been done over the last two years.  If everyone who disliked being disarmed at the General Assembly stayed home, we would never get anywhere.  We need to suck it up and show up as the battle for freedom rages on.

Finally, complacency has dug its teeth into some gun owners, who erroneously, and dangerously, feel that since the elections went well, they don’t have to be politically active anymore.  That’s like saying, “I just filled up my gas tank, now I don’t have to worry about doing that again or having to do any maintenance on my car for many years!”  Many have forgotten that the Senate is controlled by the same people who passed all the gun control in 2020 and 2021 and they aren’t up for reelection for two more years.

To be fair, though, no group had a large showing that day.  While I ran into our lobbying teams and other VCDL members sporting GSL stickers on every floor as I went about my day, I didn’t see a single member of any gun control groups, including their leadership.  We still dominated in the number of people present for any group.

Hats off to our team leaders and their team members for not letting any of the above issues stop them.  They did a great job representing VCDL and they got the job done!



VCDL Was Officially Recognized on the House Floor!

Delegate Glenn Davis from Virginia Beach formally introduced VCDL on the Floor of the House of Delegates on Lobby Day.  At the end of the introduction, as Pat Webb, Bruce Jackson, John Pierce, and I stood up, Delegate Davis asked the House to give us a warm welcome.  Many of the Democrats showed their contempt for VCDL and gun owners by not clapping, unlike everyone else on the Floor.  Video of the introduction is below.  Sorry for the vertical camera format:





Here is another video of the introduction taken from the House Floor. Skip to the 18:13 minute mark:

Link



Airplane Flying VCDL Banner Around Richmond Area

VCDL had a plane flying around Richmond for hours towing a banner that said, “Repeal all gun control.  VCDL.ORG”



News Coverage

In this story it says VCDL wants to allow carry at DMV and the Post Office.   I did not say “Post Office.”  I said, “DMV and ABC stores.”

Also, the reporter said we didn’t do a rally because of scheduling conflicts.  That’s not what I said.  I told him we didn’t do a rally partially because we couldn’t trust the Northam Administration not to pull the rug out from under us at any time.  I told him about what they did to us in 2021, when they let gun-control groups reserve the Bell Tower six months before we were allowed to apply!

https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/gun-lobby-day-in-richmond-begins-without-massive-crowds

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Youngkin addresses General Assembly, sets priorities for session as partisan clouds gather

[snip]

Youngkin’s appearance at the General Assembly coincided with not only the King holiday but also Lobby Day, when Virginia residents who have the day off from work are encouraged to visit their legislators and advocate for causes.

Pro-gun advocates usually dominate, but Monday’s event was notably quieter than recent years. In 2020, thousands of armed advocates from around the country converged on Richmond on Lobby Day to protest Democrats’ efforts to pass gun control.

Last year, after Democrats passed laws to limit weapons on Capitol Square, gun rights organizers staged a drive-through protest, with several caravans parading through city streets.

On Monday, members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League — the primary organizer of the pro-gun events — showed up in modest numbers. Those who visited with lawmakers were unarmed and mostly wearing business attire; only a few small groups of rifle-wielding, combat gear-wearing advocates gathered across Main Street from the General Assembly’s office building.

Richmond police were out in large numbers for several blocks around the Capitol, but all seemed quiet. Overhead, an airplane pulled a banner that said: “Repeal all gun control —VCDL.org.”

[/snip]

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Second Amendment rights advocates descend on Virginia's Capitol Hill



Thanks to Our Team Leaders and Others

2022 Lobby Day Team Leaders:

Kristi Horton (Lobby Day Team Coordinator)

Chris Karanski

Patrick Schrek

William Barratt

Clayton Vieg

Al Misa

Brandon Howard

Sean Callahan

Jack Blundell

Corey Fauconier

Mike Ferris

Amy Strong

Ed Mautner

Lee Hurlock

Holmes Whalen

Grant Kendall

Brian Wrenn

Casseus Gary



Special recognition: Amy Strong went above and beyond by picking up additional team assignments for people who could not make it due to illness or weather.



Bus Captains:

John Tabor

John Kirby

Steve Toth

Mark Shinn



Bus Coordinators: Tess Ailshire and Leyla Myers



VCDL Leadership / Executive members:

Patricia Webb

Ed Levine

Bruce Jackson

John Pierce

Brendan Mooney (flew in from Idaho to help!)



You are Modern Minutemen – Be Ready to Respond to Alerts on Short Notice!



Keep an eye on the status of gun bills here:  https://vcdl-lis.org/

And watch out for Legislative Action or Legislative Update VA-ALERTs and follow any instructions contained in them.

If you can attend a subcommittee or a committee hearing to show support, please do so.  Someone will be there with GSL stickers for you to wear.  You don’t need to speak, unless you’d like to do so!