Monday’s vote by Virginia lawmakers to “shelve” a proposed ban on so-called “assault weapons” was a defeat for anti-gun Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam for sure, but it was also a slap down for billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund which spent $2.5 million last year to swing the legislature to Democrat control.
As it now appears, that was money not-so-well-spent because four moderate Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee crossed party lines to help embattled Republicans sideline the legislation, which was high on Northam’s gun prohibition agenda. The governor had claimed victory last November after Democrats took control of the General Assembly for the first time in more than 20 years, thanks largely to the Everytown political investment.
But money proved to be no match for grassroots activism that saw some 22,000 armed citizens descend on the Richmond capitol last month. It was proof that citizens vote and dollar bills don’t, and that maybe the constitution isn’t for sale, after all. Perhaps in an attempt to marginalize the victory, The Independent asserted in a big headline that Virginia lawmakers bowed to “white supremacists” who threatened civil war.
Bloomberg has bought his way onto the stage for the Democrat presidential debate Wednesday evening in Las Vegas, and he is spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising in key March 3 “Super Tuesday” states and other states holding primaries a week later, including Washington.
And Washington is another gun control battleground where Bloomberg and Everytown have spent big bucks to change the political landscape where gun control is concerned.
As Virginia lawmakers were making anti-gunners miserable, a far-left political action group in the Evergreen State—Seattle Indivisible—launched a full-court press by its followers to push lawmakers in Olympia to pass three pieces of gun control legislation including a ban on so-called “high capacity magazines” and the creation of a new gun control bureaucracy within the state Department of Commerce.
- Substitute House Bill 2240 would ban original capacity magazines, restricting them to 15 rounds.
- Senate Bill 6288, according to Seattle Indivisible’s email blast, seeks to create the Office of Firearms Violence Prevention. Second Amendment activists see this as a government-financed (meaning publicly financed) gun control bureaucracy whose job would ultimately be to support gun control legislation.
- House Bill 2623 would prohibit possession of firearms by people convicted of unlawful discharge of a firearm, or animal cruelty.
Seattle Indivisible is so determined to press gun control that it has provided followers with a “sample script” for their messages to legislators. It raises the question about whether the organizers at Seattle Indivisible consider their troops to be unable to create their own messages.
Here’s the sample script:
“Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m calling from [PLACE] in support of 3 gun safety bills: HB2240, SB6288, and HB 2623. These bills all take reasonable and measured steps to address gun violence by limiting high capacity magazines, setting up an Office to research and promote strategies for gun violence prevention, and keeping firearms out of the hands of those convicted of certain violent crimes. Gun violence in this country is out of control and we must address it head on – please do what you can to bring these bills to a vote and pass all three as soon as possible. Thank you.”
Gun owners have been sending their own personal messages; lots of them. Pressure from both sides is intense, but grassroots Second Amendment activists are pulling out all stops to prevent more gun control from becoming law. By no surprise, the Seattle Indivisible crowd has labeled these bills as “gun safety” measures.
A lot of gun rights activists are convinced Washington—as well as Virginia—was plenty safe before the gun prohibition lobby came along with its restrictive agenda.
RELATED:
WA Voters Pamphlet: What Is Michael Bloomberg Trying to Avoid?
WA Anti-Gun Dems Want New ‘Office of Firearms Violence Prevention’
