Written by LT from Humanizing the Badge<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n In light of all the 2nd Amendment debate and the debacle that is Virginia and its governor (who I don\u2019t respect enough to even know his name) spouting off about \u201cIf we have constitutional laws\u2026\u201d blah, blah, blah. Listen up.<\/p>\n I work in civilian law enforcement. I am also a veteran.<\/p>\n I work with many veterans, some of whom still serve in the reserves or National Guard. In both oaths, military and civilian, we all swore to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States.<\/p>\n We did not swear to obey a tyrant or dictator.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been in law enforcement for over 21 years. In all that time I have met not one law enforcement officer who was anti-gun. Oh, I know they exist, but they are not being intellectually honest.<\/p>\n You see, law enforcement officers everywhere KNOW that guns save lives.<\/p>\n Guns prevent crime.<\/p>\n Guns stop attacks.<\/p>\n Guns even the odds between the criminal and his would-be victim.<\/p>\n Guns stop stalkers when a piece of paper doesn\u2019t. (Shout out to my dear friend Ann who shot and killed her estranged husband when came to attack again.)<\/p>\n Real cops, not politicians, KNOW that more honest gun owners mean less crime.<\/p>\n If there is anyone wearing a badge that disagrees with this they are a liar- statistics prove this time and again. Literally every state that loosens gun carry restrictions nearly immediately sees a drop in violent crime.<\/p>\n When I am on patrol, I take time to reach out and thank civilians for exercising their 2A rights- yes, even the open carriers. I have detained or arrested thousands of people.<\/p>\n Not one legal carrier has ever threatened me or my partners.<\/p>\n I even joke about one particular restaurant in my town where veterans meet for breakfast. I say if anything ever pops off in here we are all going to die in the crossfire!<\/p>\n The populace has so many guns they cannot be counted. They couldn\u2019t be confiscated even if the government threw every available resource at it.<\/p>\n The only thing to possibly curb gun ownership is a voluntary buy-back program. Those only work when a populace is convinced that \u201cthe children will be safer\u201d.<\/p>\n After all, who doesn\u2019t want safe children, right? Seems I\u2019ve heard that rationale somewhere before.<\/p>\n Why don\u2019t we all study up on history (before the DOE changes it in all the books), lest we repeat it.<\/p>\n Cops and veterans, we are of the same mold. We speak the same language. We get each other, because in many cases we are both.<\/p>\n We are protectors. It\u2019s in our nature. We will stand up for the weak and for the populace.<\/p>\n In many ways, law enforcement IS the best defense against a tyrannical government. I mean just look what Virginia sheriffs have done.<\/p>\n When the governor spoke out of turn, they told him to pound sand before any bills have even passed.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s stop all the boogaloo talk and just stand together.<\/p>\n Cops aren\u2019t coming to your door for your guns.<\/p>\n It just isn\u2019t going to happen.<\/p>\n The Second Amendment is here to stay because we know how important it is. It is an integral part of our fabric. It really does make us all equal in the eyes of the government. It works for the United States of America, the greatest civilization in history.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n Earlier today, Larry Keane from NSSF \u2013 wrote about how Virginia\u2019s new gun control plan isn\u2019t about saving lives \u2013 it\u2019s about controlling them.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n They\u2019re telling us it\u2019s about public safety, that Virginia must have strict California and New York-style gun control to make our communities safer.<\/p>\n Do not believe them. The mask is off. It was never about public safety. It was never about safer communities. Gov. Ralph Northam and his fellow\u00a0gun control\u00a0Democrats pushing for dispossession of lawfully owned firearms aren\u2019t doing this to make Virginia better. They\u2019re doing this as a naked power grab.<\/p>\n The latest legislation pre-filed for the upcoming 2020 session is proof.<\/p>\n Democrat Delegate Lee Carter of Manassas\u00a0sponsored\u00a0HB 67<\/strong><\/a>, which\u00a0would apply to any law enforcement official, noting\u00a0that those who \u201cwillfully refuses to perform the duties of his employment,\u201d will be terminated and ineligible for future law enforcement employment for another year.<\/p>\n The bill was filed just days after Gov. Ralph Northam warned against the\u00a0more than 100\u00a0counties<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and municipalities that already adopted Second Amendment or Constitutional sanctuary resolutions.<\/p>\n Northam offered a veiled threat that any law enforcement agency that doesn\u2019t get on board with enforcing his gun grab would see their funding or authority revoked.<\/p>\n It all centers on the gun control Gov. Northam promised. He said if he could get the legislature to flip from a very narrowly held Republican lead in both the House of Delegates and state Senate to Democrat, he could force through\u00a0draconian gun control<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg dumped $2.5 million and the statehouse is now narrowly Democrat, with a 21 to 19 majority in the state Senate and 55 of 100 seats in the House of Delegates.<\/p>\n That\u2019s hardly landslide territory, but enough that Democratic State Sen. Richard L.\u00a0Saslaw\u00a0pre-filed\u00a0SB<\/strong>\u00a016<\/strong><\/a>, to\u00a0prohibit the sale, transfer and possession of so-called \u201cassault firearms\u201d and certain standard magazines.<\/p>\n Violating the measure would be a state felony. That means to avoid running afoul of the law, law abiding citizens who currently own these firearms would need to get rid of them or surrender them to the government.<\/p>\n Gov. Northam tried to quell the uproar as sanctuary county resolutions passed county-by-county. His spokesperson\u00a0said<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0the governor would include a \u201cgrandfather clause\u201d that includes a\u00a0\u201crequirement they register their weapons before the end of a designated grace period.\u201d<\/p>\n No one could blame Virginians for not trusting the governor. Registering their legally owned firearms would give the state government a database of where they need to go to confiscate them later.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not exactly conspiracy theory thinking.<\/p>\n Gov. Northam previously said outright confiscation was on the\u00a0table when he\u00a0told reporters<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in November, \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019m working [on] with our secretary of public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, the governor is scrambling. The electorate is up on arms, quite literally, and his gun control allies aren\u2019t allaying fears. They\u2019re stoking serious constitutional concerns.<\/p>\n Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring\u00a0dismissed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the legal standing of Second Amendment referendums, but in doing so dismissed the will of the people taking part in the democratic process and voicing displeasure with their government.<\/p>\n He downplayed the legislation as just simple background checks, but\u00a0demanded:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Democratic Congressman Donald McEachin wasn\u2019t helping. He\u00a0suggested<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Gov. Northam call out the Virginia National Guard to enforce the ill-received gun restrictions.<\/p>\n He somehow forgot two things. Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms\u00a0noted<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that if Gov. Northam were to do it, he\u2019d be the first sitting \u201cgovernor to use the National Guard to prevent the exercise of a constitutional right since Orval Faubus called out the Guard in Arkansas to keep black students out of a Little Rock high school.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019d also be turning Virginians against their fellow citizens, many of whom, are undoubtedly gun owners, ironically carrying actual assault rifles to disarm owners of legally owned modern sporting rifles.<\/p>\n This push for gun control in the Old Dominion isn\u2019t about making the Commonwealth safer.<\/p>\n The anti-gun rhetoric and attack on Constitutionally protected American rights are pushing Virginians to an untenable choice. Virginians are being forced to choose between exercising their rights and protecting themselves and their families or surrendering their freedoms at the end of a gun.<\/p>\n It\u2019s ironic, for a state that has the motto of \u201cSic Semper Tyrannus,\u201d or thus always to tyrants.<\/p>\n The new laws in Virginia are confusing, to say the least. So we broke it down for you.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been going to great lengths to document the ongoing efforts to restrict gun owner\u2019s rights over in Virginia. Gun control advocates have been hard at work trying to push an array of new restrictions, including universal background checks, \u201cassault weapons\u201d bans and red flag laws that would allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from people deemed dangerous to themselves or others.<\/p>\n One of the greatest things to come from the Democrat elitists stirring the pot is that the lawful, gun owning population is waking up to what\u2019s going on around them in their state.<\/p>\n Over 100 cities and counties within Virginia have declared themselves to be second amendment sanctuaries, so as not to infringe upon the rights endowed by the Constitution. We\u2019ve seen the formation of militias that are intent on protecting their rights within the state as well, showing that the gun owning population aren\u2019t standing idly by.<\/p>\n For those new to the topic, you might ask what all this noise is about.<\/p>\n Well, there\u2019s two aspects of newly proposed legislation that are the most troublesome; red flag laws and the banning of assault weapons. In order to understand what an assault weapon ban in Virginia would look like, you\u2019d need to understand what the state defines as an \u201cassault weapon\u201d.<\/p>\n The state defines an assault weapon as such:<\/p>\n \u201cA semi-automatic, centerfire, firearm equipped with a folding stock, or equipped at the time with a magazine capable of holding more than 20 rounds, or capable of accommodating a silencer\/suppressor.\u201d<\/p>\n When most people think of assault weapons, an image comes to mind of an 80\u2019s action hero movie where someone is mowing down an enemy army single handedly with a machine gun.<\/p>\n Yet, if you look at the language present in what the state defines as an assault weapon, a 9mm Beretta 92 toting the MEC-GAR 20 round magazine would be an assault weapon by definition. That type of gun is a pretty standard model of hand gun, where one pull of the trigger equals one bullet coming out, which that type of gun is also a \u201csemi-automatic\u201d.<\/p>\n Politicians and activists love using the word semi-automatic, since to the untrained ear it resonates as \u201cautomatic\u201d; which then likens an image of a machine gun.<\/p>\n This assault weapons ban would also allow guns that have a folding stock to be confiscated, no matter if the firearm\u2019s magazine hosts less than 20 bullets.<\/p>\n Thousands of cops, veterans, supporters pledge to join militia in Virginia to combat unconstitutional laws<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For those that have no clue as to what a folding stock is at the end of the day, it does absolutely zero to increase or decrease what a firearm can discharge. A gun with a folding stock is designed somewhat like a traditional wood stock rifle, the difference being that you can fold it up for compact storage purposes, that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n Heaven forbid a lawful gun owner wants more space in their closet.<\/p>\n Now here\u2019s the ringer on assault weapons bans: \u201ccapable of accommodating a silencer\/suppressor\u201d.<\/p>\n There are several makes and models of fairly standard and popular handguns that can accommodate a silencer. If enacted, owners of Smith & Wesson M&P Threaded Kits, Beretta M9A3s, 9mm and .45 ACP Springfield Armory XDMs, and pretty much any Glock or Sig Sauer handgun.<\/p>\n These laws coming down the pipe are aimed at convincing residents of the state into support that are completely oblivious as to how Virginia defines assault weapons. While the non-firearm enthusiasts think they\u2019re gunning to take down machine guns, they\u2019re really trying to get rid over every lawfully owned gun.<\/p>\n While the assault weapons ban will work to achieve getting most guns out of law-abiding citizens hands, legislators have red flag laws right around the corner to sweep up those other pesky firearms that don\u2019t meet the threshold of \u201cassault weapon\u201d.<\/p>\n Essentially, all that is needed to have a weapon confiscated under red flag laws is one single person\u2019s opinion about another. What that means is that someone, in fact, anyone can make a claim that someone is a danger to themselves or others, and then people with guns come to take your guns.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no simpler way to explain it; and other states outside Virginia have already adopted these vary laws that have weaponized someone\u2019s opinion about someone else.<\/p>\n Did you know that Law Enforcement Today has a private new home for those who support emergency responders and veterans? It\u2019s called LET Unity, and it\u2019s where we share the untold stories of those patriotic Americans. Every penny gets reinvested into giving these heroes a voice. Check it out today.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nPunish Police<\/h3>\n
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\u201cIf we have constitutional laws on the books and law enforcement officers are not enforcing those laws on the books, then there are going to be consequences, but I\u2019ll cross that bridge if and when we get to it,\u201d Northam\u00a0told reporters<\/strong><\/a>.<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Turn Them In<\/h3>\n
Electorate Speaks, Politicians Threaten<\/h3>\n
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\u201cSo, when Virginia passes these gun safety laws that they will be followed, they will be enforced.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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