Free Republic

Yesterday evening and this morning, we sent you two URGENT action alerts. And you all responded marvelously. The team here at GOA is so grateful for all of you who took action. Your loud voice makes it known to legislators on Capitol Hill that people back at home are truly watching what they’re doing. Yesterday our team in Washington, D.C., learned that anti-gunners in the Senate were trying to pass Universal Background Checks without a single senator voting. So-called Universal Background Checks are only enforceable if the government has a registry to check if a gun belongs to a gun...

In response to the recent tragedy in Oakland County, Michigan, what did the anti-gunners do? Following their standard course of action, they are politicizing the deaths of four high school teens in an attempt to undermine your constitutionally-protected rights. In fact, bowing to the will of their far-Left overlords, anti-gun senators are bringing H.R. 8 to the Senate floor—which is a bill to institute Universal Background Registration Checks (UBCs). And to make matters worse, they are trying to do this by unanimous consent—without an actual vote. Please, contact your Senators and make sure they know you’re opposed to H.R. 8...

As founder of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL.org) we led the effort to reform Virginia’s concealed handgun permitting system in 1994. Previously it was near impossible to get a CHP in much of Virginia and when they were issued they usually went to white businessmen while women and minorities received the runaround. The Clerk of Court is a key individual in the CHP permitting process. Culpeper is currently charging the maximum fee of $50 to obtain a concealed handgun permit. In contrast the Orange County Circuit Court and other jurisdictions only charge $15. Marshall Keene has pledged to reduce...

Facebook this week banned a Second Amendment group without providing notice or a clear explanation, the group’s president said. The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) Facebook page was taken offline on Tuesday. “We were banned without notice or exact reason,” Philip Van Cleave, president of the group, told The Epoch Times via email.

What is Lobby Day? VCDL has been holding Lobby Day since 2002 and it has always been on Martin Luther King Day. This day was chosen because it is in the beginning of the General Assembly Session, many people are off work, street parking is free, and the Delegates and Senators are in their offices. At least normally. This year, with COVID-19, things will be a little different, so we've adapted our plan to work with the current situation. Here are some scenes from previous years. CDL's Lobby Day is a day when normal, everyday Americans go to the Virginia...

***NOTE: Mailchimp has just blocked VCDL from putting out VA-ALERTS, so we are sending this alert out to VCDL members only using our membership system. This email will repeat, hopefully very soon, once we have moved over to a new system so that everyone gets a copy. In the meantime forward this to others if you can do so.*** 1. VCDL statement on Lobby Day 2021, January 18 2. Exact location for the Hampton main-caravan starting point 3. Roanoke hearing on local gun-control postponed 4. Virginia Citizens Armory in Purcellville is doing a sub-caravan to Fairfax County main-caravan starting point...

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – The head of the gun-rights group that organized a rally that drew 22,000 people to the state Capitol in January said a similar event won’t happen next year, claiming that a “double standard” allowed gun-control advocates to book the majority of time slots for Lobby Day. Philip Van Cleave, the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, told members of the organization in a message this week that when he tried to apply for the 11 a.m. slot for next year’s Lobby Day, a tradition that gives citizens an opportunity to share issues they find important...

On a cold winter morning last February, a woman named Samantha assembled her AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in the parking area next to Timbrook Public Library in Campbell County, Virginia. Her husband, Chad, had his AR-15 in hand and commented, "I would trust going into a gun fight right next to my wife. I've seen her shoot." Samantha was one of a handful of women attending the call for volunteers to join a group calling itself the Campbell County Militia. Along with Chad and Samantha (who asked to have their last name withheld), over 200 people were at the event, most...

Virginia Second Amendment Sanctuaries in Green, 8 January, 2020 The Virginia bill to ban "assault weapons", HB 961, is highly controversial. It is one of the items credited with bringing over 22,000 Second Amendment supporters to the Virginia Capitol to lobby their legislators. 91 of 95 counties in Virginia have passed Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions, saying they will not comply with such legislation.  The Virginia legislature, with a new Democrat party majority in the House of Representatives (55-45) and the Senate (21-19) and a Democrat Governor, has been energized to pass bills long considered to be outside acceptable limits....

Democrats in Virginia’s House of Delegates passed legislation Tuesday to ban suppressors, “high capacity” magazines, and “assault weapons.” The bill, HB 961, now moves to the Virginia Senate. HB 961 originally banned certain commonly owned firearms and suppressors without exception, The NRA-ILA reports that the bill amended to secure passage. The result is that a grandfather clause was added to allow Virginians to keep their AR-15s, AK-47s, and similar rifles if they already own them. The same will apply to suppressors. However, the NRA-ILA notes that “confiscation is undoubtedly still the end goal.” There is no grandfather clause for magazines,...

House Democrats used their majority Friday to advance the most controversial gun control bill this General Assembly session, a ban on the sale of assault weapons and the possession of "high capacity" magazines of 12 or more rounds. The House Public Safety Committee backed House Bill 961 on a 12-9 party-line vote, sending it to the floor of the House of Delegates. The bill would, among other things, require Virginians to turn over or destroy ammunition magazines considered to be “high capacity” and allow the possession of centerfire assault rifles but prohibit the transfer of sale of them in most...

Despite the Governor’s best efforts to incite and ruin the VCDL rally for Lobby Day in Richmond, the crowds were calm, patriotic, and respectful with no incidents reported. All of the left’s media outlets screamed like Chicken Little over this rally and nothing happened. They were all wrong. It is estimated that the crowd was 50,000+. At one point the crowd was estimated to be twice that amount.

An elderly man shouting obscenities crashed a live MSNBC shot Monday as protesters gathered in Richmond, Virginia, for a gun rights rally. The man jumped into view behind NBC reporter Gabe Gutierrez, who was speaking to MSNBC host Hallie Jackson in the studio at the time.

some live youtube broadcasts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tXg8BZS1Cs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U2LzBrkZjs

Virginia Governor Sets a Trap for Lobby Day, 20 January, 2020 Second Amendment supporters face a daunting challenge in Virginia for Lobby day, at the Virginia Capitol in Richmond, on 20 January 2020.  Those who wish to disarm Virginians have created a trap to frame Second Amendment Supporters as violent white supremacists, going to Richmond to destroy duly elected government.Do not take the bait. Armed Virginians have been going to the State Capitol in Richmond to lobby to restore Second Amendment rights since 2002. The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) has been very successful in these efforts. VCDL was instrumental...

I'm sure that everyone has now heard that Governor Northam has declared a state of emergency and banned the carrying & possession of weapons on Capitol Square in Richmond from 5:00 pm Friday, January 17 to 5:00 pm on Tuesday, January 21. VCDL believes that this gun ban is illegal. Our legal team is looking at our options and we will keep you advised as soon as we have a definitive plan. As it stands now, you can carry on 9th Street, or other nearby streets, as long as you don't go into the fenced-in Capitol grounds area (or into...

Despite the expansion of “gun sanctuaries” to a record 130 Virginia towns and counties Wednesday, covering most of the state, foes of gun control legislation speeding through Richmond are raising new fears they will be forced to register weapons, a move that could lead to “confiscation.” Second Amendment lobbyists and advocates reviewing the initial gun control moves by a state Senate committee credit the exploding sanctuary movement for forcing Democrats to accept some compromises, including a less strict universal background check and delay in introducing a ban on “assault weapons.” But they are concerned that even watered down gun control...

There are thousands and thousands of folks here for today’s Judiciary Committee meeting on universal background checks, red flag laws, one handgun a month law etc. I’ve seen at least a few thousand and am currently a couple hallways away from the meeting room. The committee has decided that Moms Demand Action shirt wearers get to go to the front of the line! The State Police just came out and said the committee decided they get equal representation in the meeting room! They make up less than 1% (less than 0.5% or fewer) of the line but they are going...

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia lawmakers have voted to ban firearms at the state Capitol, the first in what’s expected to be many contentious gun votes in coming weeks. Newly empowered Democrats in the General Assembly voted Friday to ban guns at the Capitol and a legislative office building, saying the move was needed to protect public safety.

Richmond: The Mother of All Buffalo Jumps The more I ponder the mass demonstration being promoted by the Virginia Citizens Defense League for the annual Lobby Day at the Richmond Capitol, the more it looks like a disaster in the making. I wish it were otherwise, but I see many times more downside risk than possible upside benefit. Even if Virginia Senate Bill 16 is passed, banning nearly all semi-automatic firearms, the new law will be challenged in court, and given the potential dire outcomes, the case will rapidly ascend to the SCOTUS. This process will take years, and Governor...