Free Republic

Governor Northam has ordered local businesses to stay closed through May 8. He is operating under authority that he believes he has under Virginia law. Virginia’s emergency disaster law grants a Governor broad powers “to protect the public peace, health, and safety, and to preserve the lives and property and economic well-being of the people of the Commonwealth.” Governor Northam, like many other leftist authoritarian governors, used his emergency powers to shut down businesses in his state in order to “save” people from coronavirus. Did he act within his powers? Coronavirus, as of April 15, resulted in 195 deaths and...

When Democrats took the majority in Virginia the last election, they quickly put on the table a package of radical laws that were set to limit Virginians’ Second Amendment rights, including closing down every shooting range not owned by the government, hindering their ability to form militias, severely limiting gun sale transfers, as well as fresh registration bills. Within the first 48 hours of taking over the Virginia legislature in 2020, Democrats passed their first of many proposed gun laws and banned the carry of firearms on the property of the state capitol and other government offices. The people of...