REPORT FROM RICHMOND: Never Prouder to be an American

by Dale Lock
Guns Save Life Sangamon County Regional Director

Today my son and I attended the Virginia Civilian Defense League (VCDL) lobby day event. As you know by now, the world did not come to an end and nothing bad happened. All this despite the fervent wishes of the media and Virginia’s Governor.

From my experience, I can tell you what I saw and I did not see any skinheads. Frankly, it was too darn cold! Nor did I see any misbehavior from anybody. The police acted polite and cordial and many marched on our side. Over the day, I saw a diverse, super-polite crowd from all walks of life having a good time on a pretty cold day.

Our funniest sight today:  We saw a lady carrying dozens of eggs in a clear plastic bag towards the capitol building. A police officer noticed this too and followed her, only to lose interest when she entered the Waffle House. That restaurant had customers standing in line out the door.

Even leaving our hotel at 7am, traffic was a mess. People were supposed to park at Diamond field and take buses to downtown, but the VCDL sponsors were simply overwhelmed with turnout.

Instead, we used Uber and it worked great. Unbelievable service with Uber.

At 9am, the line spanned two blocks to enter the capital office building to talk to Virginia State Representatives (they call them Delegates here).

I photographed three patriots with signs that said “Gun rights are civil rights,” “Anti-racist/Pro-gun” and “Gun rights are trans rights.” John Boch put this picture up on The Truth About Guns website and I think it symbolizes the situation today. Gun rights belong to us all.

At another moment, I snapped a picture of six police officers holding a sign (pictured top of page) that said “We support the Second Amendment.”  I had to wait in line to shake their hands and thank them for coming.

Another lady had a sign in English and Spanish that said “I immigrated to the land of the free.”  A reporter was interviewing her.  She definitely didn’t fit the stereotype of a gun-owning American fed to us by the mainstream media.

Then there was the poor guy who couldn’t get a date in a house of ill repute. He carried a sign that read, “Gun laws save lives.”  That poor guy was not having a good time and didn’t stay long. In fact, he looked a little scared to me.

I haven’t yet read the mainstream media reports, but there were certainly tens of thousands of people here. There might have been more. Maybe a lot more. You could not see the whole crowd from any point. The closest we got to the “entrance” to the fenced area was a half-block at 8am and by 11am, all we could hear were roaring cheers and chants of “U-S-A!” over and over again.

I was never prouder to be an American, surrounded by my fellow patriotic Americans. On nearby streets, a long line of semi truckers showed their support with American flags, “Don’t tread on me” flags, and heavy use of their airhorns and engine braking.

Yes, Governor Northam surely heard them if he didn’t hear the roar of the crowd. Meanwhile, the police officers took pictures and waved at the trucks, smiling the whole time.

People open carried lots of guns – handguns, rifles and shotguns. I even saw two Mosin-Nagants carried.  Russians meddling in our elections, perhaps?

I saw an old Mauser bolt gun as well, and even a guy with an over-under shotgun. Oh, and there were hundreds (thousands?) of America’s favorite rifle there.  We saw excellent safe gun handling, including fingers off the trigger and I did not see any muzzle sweeps.  In short, they were far from a bunch of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals that people like Bloomberg think they are.

My son lives in Virginia and observed that this has really got people fired up and involved. His sense is that these people will stay involved and the next election may prove a bloodbath for the gun grabbers (at the ballot box).

Furthermore, we think many of the groups that Northam’s Democrats depended on at the ballot box are starting to realize that self-defense is an inalienable right for every one, no matter who they are, who they sleep with or the color of their skin.

All of the gun laws proposed in Virginia target law abiding citizens and do nothing to discourage criminal activity.

Images by Dale Lock.