Virginia gun owners—incensed by harsh new gun control measures being floated at the statehouse—have harshly rebuked state lawmakers in a daylong face-off that marks the first skirmish of 2020 between citizens and politicians over gun rights.

It took place in Northern Virginia, at a budgetary “public comment” event —one of four taking place across the Old Dominion that were focused on upcoming funding issues.

Tempers flared between citizens and the legislators to the extent that one of the seven Virginia lawmakers on the panel hearing testimony threatened to shut down the gathering.

The tense, and at many times raucous meeting unfolded on the campus of George Mason University—a historical irony that was not lost on the attendees.

As a patriot leader in the American Revolution, it was George Mason who authored the Virginia Declaration of Rights later used to frame the U.S. Constitution.

Elaine Wood, a Nokesville gun owner, gestured to the crowd as she chastised the lawmakers, saying, “I find it ironic that we are discussing gun control in a building named after George Mason!”

That comment set the tone for the day as scores of citizens streamed to the microphone to demand that planned gun control expenditures by statehouse Democrats be scrapped in favor of increased funding for teachers and those with disabilities.

Although testimony was said to be welcome on any Virginia budget issue, most took their three-minute “open mic” opportunity to criticize Governor Ralph Northam’s call to increase state funding by $7.5 million for programs seen as a future down payment on extensive gun control enforcement.

Northern Virginia resident Bruce Novitsky of Burke didn’t mince words when he asked the lawmaker panel “Who are you going to support….the people of Virginia or Michael Bloomberg?”…

As senior vice president of Virginia-based “Gun Owners of America,” Erich Pratt stood in line for his turn at the microphone. He praised the Second Amendment sanctuary movement’s overwhelming mandate and then aimed tough questions at the panel.

Why is the Governor requesting millions of dollars to enforce gun control that is not even on the books? Could he be planning to use that money to enforce his gun control agenda through executive order? Would you as legislators support a budget amendment preventing the Governor from doing that?

Pratt closed this way:

Churchgoers in Texas showed us how to stop evil. A good guy with a gun did what gun control can never do—to physically stop a bad guy who is trying to commit murder. Please stand for the rights that are protected in the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions and do not fund the Governor’s request for gun control.

The Virginia Legislature opens in a week, with gun control hearings reportedly on the docket for January 13th, the day that the NRA is organizing a large demonstration on the statehouse grounds.

Following that will be the VCDL Lobby Day event on January 20th—a gathering that VCDL leaders believe could amount to as many as 50,000 people converging on the statehouse in Richmond.

Read more at The Truth About Guns