Virginia Primary Post Mortem - GOP Nominates Solid Pro-Gun Candidates, Democrats Nominate Gun Ban Candidates

Yesterday was Primary day in Virginia, setting up the tickets for the November statewide races.  We knew going in that the Democrat ticket was going to be stacked against gun owners with both candidates for Governor trying to out gun-control each other while all of the GOP candidates for Governor had "A" ratings .  The same was true with the down ticket races with one candidate for Lt. Governor on the Democrat side having an "F" rating and two other candidates having "?" for failing to turn in their candidate survey, while all of the GOP Lt. Governor candidates had solid voting records in the General Assembly in support of our rights.  At the Attorney General level, there was only one GOP candidate, John Adams, and he has never held public office, but his stated views are much different than the current Democrat, Mark Herring, who is running for a second term.  From Adams' web site:

Law-abiding citizens have a constitutional right to purchase and own firearms. That is not a political opinion or a policy choice. It is the supreme law of the land, protected in the Constitution. After the Founding Fathers won their freedom from a tyrannical government, they drafted the Second Amendment to ensure that our new government would never disarm its citizens. History demonstrates that citizens’ right to bear arms is supremely important to ordered liberty and freedom.

I own several firearms for sport and protection. I am an avid hunter and angler, and I love the outdoors. I am also outraged and saddened by the murderous acts of those who use guns to commit terrible crimes. Gun violence is a serious problem that demands serious answers. We must start by enforcing laws that are already on the books to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those suffering with mental illness. We also must ask ourselves tough questions about what makes people want to commit such horrific acts. But disarming law-abiding citizens is not the path to solving these problems. As your Attorney General I will vigorously defend the Second Amendment.

Herring by contrast tried to go around the General Assembly and summarily end concealed carry reciprocity/recognition agreements with 25 states.

It is clear that the stakes could not be higher in November.  The candidate elected as Virginia's next Governor will not only either sign or veto pro-rights legislation, he will determine how legislative districts are drawn in 2021 by either signing or vetoing redistricting maps.  This will have a direct impact on our rights for a decade.  Now is the time to get involved in the statewide races.  You can contact the candidates by clicking on their names below:

Ed Gillespie for Governor

Jill Vogel for Lt. Governor

John Adams for Attorney General

You can also contact the NRA-ILA Campaign Field Representative if you are interested in getting involved in NRA-ILA activities in support of this year's pro-gun candidates:

Patrick DeStefano
Senior Campaign Field Representative
(864)-680-0399
patrick@nrailafrontlines.com
http://www.nrailafrontlines.com/

Summer is the best time to get involved.  If we want to make sure pro-gun legislation gets signed into law over the next four years, we have the opportunity to do that by getting involved to elect the candidates that support our rights.