Remember Ralph Northam? He’s the governor of Virginia who got away with wearing blackface and/or a KKK costume in his 20s — during the 1980s — and who expressed support for infanticide. He remained in office, of course, because he’s a Democrat. And thanks to the results of the Nov. 5 Virginia election, Northam has a Democratic majority in both houses of the state legislature and an opportunity to implement his radical, anti-Second Amendment agenda.
Northam tried to distract from his racism scandal by calling for a special legislative session in July and announcing a sweeping gun-control platform. Now, his proposals might become law.
“Virginia voters on Tuesday handed control of the state’s General Assembly to Democrats, setting up the most progressive legislature in modern times,” the Richmond Times Dispatch reported. “Tuesday’s results give them power to pass an agenda and allow Gov. Ralph Northam to sign his party’s bills into law.”
Yikes.
That agenda includes universal background checks on firearm purchases, bans on so-called assault weapons (a meaningless term), ammunition restrictions, bans on accessories such as silencers and bump stocks. Per the Washington Post, Northam will also work to limit handgun purchases to one a month and pass “red flag” laws allowing courts to order guns confiscated from those suspected to be dangerous.
Of course, like most of what the gun control movement proposes and does, none of this will actually do much to stop mass shootings. If there has ever been a mass shooting in which the gun was obtained in a lawful, private sale not requiring a background check, I welcome anyone to bring it my attention, because I have never been able to find such a case.
Mass shooters tend to circumvent background checks by stealing weapons or purchasing them illegally, often using friends or family to make illegal purchases on their behalf. Also, almost 90% of firearm purchasers currently do go through a background check. It would be very difficult to make that 100% without having government create a gun registry and institute mass surveillance on all firearm transfers, even between family members.
It’s easy to see why Second Amendment supporters find that thought horrifying at a time when prominent Democrats, such as failed presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, proudly declare, Yes, we’re going to take away your guns.
And bans on accessories, such as silencers, are just silly. A silencer does not, despite what fearmongering Democrats might suggest, make gunfire “silent” like in the movies. Rather, it reduces the noise to loud, rather than deafening. The idea that the availability of silencers allows would-be killers to sneak up on people betrays a complete unfamiliarity with how firearms actually work. So, too, bans on bump stocks which speed up firing rates are useless, as the same effect can be replicated with a rubber band or other techniques.
Northam’s “assault weapons” ban is the most infuriating policy of all. The definition of an “assault weapon” is inevitably vague and usually based on aesthetic, not substantive, criteria. A ban on assault weapons was tried at the federal level already. Experts almost universally admit that it did not work (even Vox has pretty much conceded this). But it certainly did limit the rights of law-abiding Americans to defend themselves with some of the previously most popular and common firearms available.
As far as Northam’s “red flag” laws go, the sentiment behind such proposals is certainly understandable. But there are serious due process concerns with such laws, and after everything we know about the governor, he lacks the judgment to craft such a bill in a way that respects constitutional principles of due process and isn’t ripe for abuse.
All in all, the Virginia election results and subsequent Democratic takeover will have wide-ranging impacts on issues across the spectrum. Some of those impacts may even be positive. But for the Second Amendment and its supporters, a Democratic Richmond is frightening indeed.
