On Thursday afternoon, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Joi J Taylor denied a bid from two gun rights groups for a temporary injunction blocking the Virginia governor's emergency ban on guns in Capitol Square.  Ralph Northam's ban in advance of Monday's Lobby Day rally prompted the Virginia Citizens Defense League and Gun Owners of America to ask a local court to immediately lift the ban.  

An attorney for the groups called the ban an "unconstitutional restraint" infringing on rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and a Virginia law enacted in 2012.  The law restricts the governor's powers under a state of emergency "specifically to prevent and prohibit governors from in any way limiting or prohibiting the possession or carrying of firearms."

Virginia's Democratic Legislature's fast moving elimination of citizens' fundamental right to bear arms has ignited a firestorm in the Old Dominion.  More than 100 counties and cities have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries.  A week ago, the West Virginia Senate adopted a resolution inviting Frederick County, Virginia to become part of their state.  On January 10, a committee of Bloomberg robots in the state House voted to ban all guns in the Capitol building.

Governor Blackface Northam can pay no greater tribute to the Second Amendment's clear establishment of a citizen's right to own guns than the lengths he and his cronies have gone to this past week to undermine that right.  His illegal and dictatorial decision to ban guns in a public square while demonizing lawful, everyday citizens is exactly why the Bill of Rights exists.

In his Jan. 15 commentary, "Red Flag Nation: Anti-Gun Laws, Sanctuary Cities and the Second Amendment," civil rights lawyer and founder of the Charlottesville-based Rutherford Institute, John Whitehead, succinctly explains the necessity of an armed citizenry:

In a nutshell, then, the Second Amendment's right to bear arms reflects not only a concern for one's personal defense but serves as a check on the political power of the ruling authorities. It represents an implicit warning against governmental encroachments on one's freedoms, the warning shot over the bow to discourage any unlawful violations of our persons or property. As such, it reinforces that necessary balance in the citizen-state relationship[.]

During his press conference this past Wednesday, Northam said law enforcement agencies and state analysts advised him there were "credible threats" coming from out of state militias, white nationalists and hate groups.  Northam offered no names or details about the groups, preferring to lump them all in with innocent, law-abiding Virginians whose taxes pay his salary.

Soon, after receiving criticism for his public statements comparing the annual gathering of gun rights advocates to the Charlottesville rally in 2017, and for his obvious disdain for the VCDL, its members, and generally those attending the Lobby Day event, the New York Times reported the arrest of three men allegedly belonging to a  neo-Nazi group who allegedly discussed attending the Richmond rally.  The story was quickly picked up by the Daily Beast, ABC News, Huffington Post, and other liberal media, who were more than happy to connect the alleged neo-Nazis with the Richmond rally.  However,  an ABC News article states that the criminal complaint filed in Maryland District Court "does not specifically allege the two had plans to carry out an attack at a pro-gun rights protest planned next week in Richmond"; rather, "a law enforcement official confirmed to ABC News that the FBI arrested the three under suspicion they might travel to the rally in 'anticipation of a possible race war,' as first reported by the New York Times." With non-specific allegations and a suggestion the trio "might" end up in Richmond, the mainstream media have aligned with Northam and his crusade against Virginia gun-owners.

Meanwhile, crews in Richmond are constructing a fenced in area around the Capitol building to pen in a limited number of those attending Monday's rally. Law enforcement agencies will restrict entry into Capitol Square to a single entrance, and anyone entering will go through security checks and metal-detectors.  Ironically, unarmed gun rights advocates with legal carry permits will be confined like criminals inside a fence and surrounded by armed guards of the state.