Tag: gun control

Top 10 Most Left-Wing Positions Vice President Kamala Harris has Held over the Years

Just the News
Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris has held very liberal – some would even say radical – positions on various policies over the years, and despite flip-flopping on occasion as political winds changed, her history indicates how far to the left her possible administration could swing.

From guns to energy, Harris has held liberal positions over the course of her political career. Some of her stated positions from her dismal 2020 presidential run have softened recently, largely occurring after she joined President Biden’s ticket in 2020.

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Justice Department Says TikTok Has Collected User Data on Issues Such as Gun Control and Abortion

Just the News

The Justice Department on Friday evening accused the social media app TikTok of gathering information on users’ opinions on social issues such as abortion and gun control.

Attorneys for the DOJ said in documents filed at an appeals court in Washington that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance used an internal web-suite system called Lark to get TikTok employees to communicate with ByteDance engineers in China.

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Commentary: The Second Amendment Is More Crucial than Ever After Attempt to Kill Trump

Virginia Star Staff
Man training at gun range

A 20-year-old man with a rifle, perched atop a nearby roof, fired several rounds July 13 at Donald Trump as the former president spoke at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one attendee and wounding at least two others.

As we know now, one round nicked Trump’s right ear and he avoided a serious wound or death with a fortuitous head turn that moved him out of the bullet’s path at the last second.

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DOJ Creates New Center to Help Local Officials Apply ‘Red Flag’ Laws Against Certain Gun Owners

Virginia Star Staff
Merrick Garland

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Saturday the creation of a new entity to train state and local officials on procedures to apply “red flag” laws that temporarily prevent certain individuals from owning a firearm.

The National Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Resource Center is an entity created under the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) that will both educate and assist local officials when they initiate legal proceedings to obtain “red flag” orders that rescind an individual’s right to bear arms based on the belief that they pose a risk of harm to themselves or others, according to the DOJ’s press release. The individuals to be trained are “law enforcement officials, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service and social service providers, community organizations, and behavioral health professionals.”

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Virginia House Passes Bills to Ban Firearm Sales, Increase Minimum Wage

Tom Pappert

The Virginia House of Democrats successfully passed HB 1 and HB 2, which would see the minimum wage in the commonwealth raised to $15 per hour by 2026 and make the sale or transfer of “assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices” a misdemeanor criminal offense.

Filed by Delegate  Jeion Ward (D-Hampton), HB 1 would see Virginia’s current minimum wage of $12 per hour increased to $13.50 per hour in 2025 before increasing to $15 per hour in 2026. It passed through committee with partisan votes, and narrowly passed in the House of Delegates with 51 votes in favor and 49 votes against.

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Nearly 75 House Republicans Demand Mike Johnson Oppose Reauthorization of Gun Control Law

Virginia Star Staff
Mike Johnson

A group of nearly 75 Republican members of the House of Representatives are demanding that Speaker Mike Johnson oppose the reauthorization of a decades-old gun control law, according to a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Undetectable Firearms Act (UFA) was enacted by the 100th Congress in 1988 and bans the manufacture, sale or import of any firearm that isn’t detectable by a door-frame metal detector or other security technology, which are commonly termed “ghost guns.” The law’s provisions need to be reauthorized before their statutory expiry date of March 8, with House Republicans demanding that Johnson not bring the Senate’s reauthorization bill, which was passed in July of 2023, to the floor.

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New Mexico Governor Responds to Judge Blocking Controversial Gun Control Order

The Center Square

A federal judge blocked parts of a controversial gun measure from New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham Wednesday, but she is not backing down.

U.S. District Judge David Urias temporarily blocked the law, arguing that the executive order runs contrary to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on gun rights and violates people’s abilities to defend themselves.

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Teachers Union Conference Encouraged Educators to Lobby for Gun Control

Virginia Star Staff

A teachers union conference in July encouraged educators to lobby for gun control, according to a conference agenda revealed by the Defense of Freedom Institute.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the nation’s second-largest teachers union, held a “Together Educating America’s Children” (TEACH) Conference July 21-23 featuring professional development workshops to teach educators tools and strategies to “help kids and communities succeed,” according to the teachers union’s website. One professional development session offered, “Speaking of Gun Violence: How Do We Ensure Educator Voices Matter?” was taught by “Teachers Unify To End Gun Violence,” an organization that works to help pass gun control legislation, and encouraged educators to “collectively raise [their] voices for change,” according to the conference agenda.

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Gavin Newsom Proposes 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to Restrict Gun Rights

Just the News

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said he is proposing the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which will restrict gun rights. 

The proposed amendment would raise the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21, implement universal background checks, create what Newsom called a “reasonable waiting period for gun purchases” and ban civilians from buying so-called “assault weapons,” according to the governor’s announcement on Twitter.

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Sens. Ron Johnson, Tommy Tuberville Join Colleagues in Defending Women’s Sports: ‘Leaving Women at a Complete Disadvantage in Activities Specifically Meant for Them’

Susan Berry, PhD

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and other GOP senators Tuesday in a public comment to Biden Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that opposes the department’s proposed rule to expand Title IX to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports, and specifically points out how the rule will undermine the original intention of Title IX. The education department’s proposed rule, titled “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams” was published in the Federal Register on April 6.

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Second Amendment Lawsuit Challenges ATF’s New Gun Control Rule

M.D. Kittle

A new federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) rule on pistols with stabllizing braces faces a Second Amendment lawsuit filed on behalf of disabled veterans.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed the complaint Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division.

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Eighteen State AGs Voicing Support for New York Gun-Industry Liability Law

The Center Square

A coalition of 18 state attorneys general, all Democrats, on Wednesday submitted an amicus brief in support of New York’s firearms industry accountability law.

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Democrats to Push for Gun Safety Measures in 2023 Session

The Center Square

Virginia Democrats are pushing for stricter gun safety measures during the 2023 legislative session in response to what they say is an “epidemic” of gun violence. 

Democratic lawmakers in the state Senate have introduced a range of gun control proposals, including bills that will prohibit individuals from carrying assault weapons in certain public areas and prohibit the sale of unserialized weapon parts, more commonly known as “ghost guns.” 

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Washington State’s Dem Gov, Attorney General Propose Major Gun Control Measures

Virginia Star Staff

Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson held a press conference Monday to announce three new measures for the upcoming 2023 legislative session that aims to curb gun violence in the state.

The measures would ban assault style weapons, hold manufacturers and retailers accountable for gun sales and implement a permit-to-purchase requirement for all gun buyers, according to a press conference. Inslee cited an increase in gun violence as the reason for the new legislation, and believes the laws, along with mental health assistance, will curb gun violence in Washington.

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Oregon Judge Refuses to Let Restrictive Gun Control Law Take Effect

Virginia Star Staff

A recently passed Oregon gun law will not take effect Thursday, following a high court ruling by Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters, who denied Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s request to remove a hold on the law, according to The Associated Press.

The law, Ballot Measure 114, was subject to multiple lawsuits following its passing in November, and Rosenblum’s request sought to overturn a lower court’s ruling by Harney County Judge Robert Raschio, which placed a hold on the law’s implementation Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The ballot measure is considered one of the strictest gun regulations in the country, and if implemented, will require background checks, firearm training, fingerprint collection and a permit to purchase any firearm.

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2A Groups Caution Against Gun Control Measures in Virginia after Shootings

The Center Square

After three football players were killed in a shooting at the University of Virginia and six people were killed in a shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, gun groups are cautioning against efforts to impose stricter gun control measures.

On November 13, three UVA football players were killed after a man allegedly opened fire in a bus after returning to the university from a class trip. A little more than a week later, six people were killed in a Walmart in Chesapeake after a man allegedly opened fire because of grievances against some Walmart employees.

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Oregon Voters Pass Measure That Creates ‘Database’ of Gun Owners

Virginia Star Staff

Oregon voters on Wednesday passed Ballot Measure 114, one of the most restrictive gun control measures in the country.

The ballot measure passed 51% to 49%, with 77% reporting, according to the Oregonian. Though the results were close with just over three-fourths of the vote tallied, the remaining counties of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas all heavily favor the measure.

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Hundreds of Virginians Have Had Firearms Confiscated Through Red-Flag Laws

The Center Square

Hundreds of Virginians have had their guns confiscated from them through red-flag laws since those rules went into effect more than two years ago, according to data in the Virginia Firearms Transaction Center.

Red-flag laws allow police to seize firearms from a person if a judge deems him or her to be a threat to himself or others, even if that person has not been convicted of a crime, charged with a crime or even accused of a crime. The laws passed the General Assembly when Democrats had control of both chambers and were signed by former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. The legislation received staunch opposition from the Republican minority at the time.

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Merchant Banking Organization: Gun, Ammunition Purchases by Credit Card Will be Coded

The Center Square
An unloaded handgun sitting on the center console of a vehicle with the magazine clip next to it

The international organization responsible for creating merchant category codes for credit card purchases has given its approval to establish one for transactions made at gun stores.

The International Organization for Standardization’s Registration and Maintenance Management Group met on Wednesday to discuss a request made by Amalgamated Bank to set up such a code.

An ISO spokesperson told The Center Square that RMMG members could not decide whether to approve the application. That elevated the discussion to the ISO leadership that oversees standards for retail financial services.

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Biden Signs Bipartisan Gun Control Measure Supported by 29 Republicans

The Center Square

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed bipartisan gun control legislation meant to take guns out of the hands of individuals deemed a threat, though critics say that’s a violation of due process rights. The measure also imposes more thorough background checks on buyers under the age of 21.

It does not include a ban on AR-15-style weapons or limit the number of bullets in magazines.

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U.S. Senate Reaches Agreement on Gun Control Bill

The Center Square

The U.S. Senate voted late Tuesday to advance a gun control bill with 14 Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, joining Democrats to approve the measure.

The vote was reached after weeks of negotiating a bipartisan bill in response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers.

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Republican Senators Considering Voting for Gun Control Measures

Admin

In the U.S. Senate, some Republican senators appear open to signing off on Democrat-proposed efforts to increase gun control restrictions in the wake of several recent mass shootings.

Politico reports that the negotiations are being led on the Republican side by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas). Cornyn has already briefed Republican leadership on what he has discussed with other senators over last week’s recess, and recently held a meeting with Democrats Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to move talks forward.

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New York GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs Will Not Seek Re-Election After Gun Control Support Backlash

Virginia Star Staff

New York GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs announced on Friday that he would not seek re-election after his support for an assault weapons ban generated backlash within his own party.

Jacobs announced last week, in the wake of a mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., that he would back a federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, according to the New York Times. Jacobs represents the 27th Congressional District of New York, which includes some of the Buffalo suburbs.

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: Greater School Security Not Something Biden ‘Believes In’ Since ‘The Problem Is with Guns’

Susan Berry, PhD

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday Joe Biden has no interest in Republican proposals that focus on “hardening schools,” i.e., installing greater security and safety measures, because “the problem is with guns.”

Asked if she could elaborate on Biden’s promise to meet with members of Congress on new gun laws, Jean-Pierre said  gun violence is an “epidemic” across the country.

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Sen. Chuck Schumer Rejects Sen. Ron Johnson’s School Safety Bill: ‘We Will Vote on Gun Legislation’

Susan Berry, PhD

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) rejected a school safety bill proposed by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) Wednesday, one that had been promoted by several of the parents of victims of the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

Schumer dismissed the legislation, first introduced in 2019, on which the Parkland victims’ parents had collaborated, claiming the bill “could see more guns in schools” and touting, “I blocked it.”

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Commentary: Red Flag Laws and Unintended Consequences

RealClearWire

The senseless murder of 19 children and two teachers at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas is leading to calls for more gun control. To some, “red flag” laws, also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders, seem like the obvious solution. These laws allow judges to seize a person’s guns without a trial, based solely on a written complaint that the person might be a danger to themselves or others. All a judge needs is “reasonable suspicion.”

“We know that we can show we can be united to protect our children,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, a famously moderate West Virginia Democrat.

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Connecticut Guns Sales Reach Five-Year High During Pandemic

The Center Square
woman in a white dress holding an AR in a gun shop

Gun sales reached a five-year high in Connecticut in 2021, the year that the FBI saw the second-highest number of recorded background checks.

According to Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, there were 21 million background checks for gun sales in 2020 and 18.5 million in 2021, nationwide. Those figures are the top two highest on record.

“Background checks skyrocketed in March 2020, when there were 2.3 million background checks recorded,” Oliva told The Center Square. “That was the most ever recorded in a single month. That, of course, was the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns. People became concerned for their safety when police were warning they would not be able to respond to all emergency calls because they were seeing COVID infections rise.”

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Freshman Virginia Delegate Tim Anderson Aims at Gun Control

Eric Burk

Freshman Delegate Tim Anderson (R-Virginia Beach) has pre-filed a suite of bills that, if enacted, will roll back many of Democrats’ gun control initiatives from recent years. Anderson’s four bills would eliminate fees for concealed handgun permits; reduce penalties for carrying concealed weapons without permits; remove the one handgun-a-month purchasing limit on people who don’t have permits; and remove authority for localities to implement their own gun bans on municipal property.

“As far as the Second Amendment bills, I am seeking to revoke the nonsensical one-gun-a-month bill for non-concealed carry holders because there is no evidence to support that someone is more dangerous without a concealed carry permit than someone who has one,” Anderson said.

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Virginia Gov. Northam Continues Legacy Tour, Highlights Proposed Spending on Gun Violence Prevention, HBCUs, Parks, Law Enforcement

Eric Burk

Governor Ralph Northam is set to announce his final budget proposal next week, and he has spent this week on his “Thank You, Virginia” tour highlighting key pieces of the proposal — cementing his legacy before he leaves office early next year. On Friday, he announced $27 million to establish a Center for Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention.

“We lose a thousand Virginians to gun violence each year, and we must do everything we can to bring that number to zero,” Northam said in a press release that also highlighted gun control legislation he signed during his term. “The new research Center will collect important data that can lead to meaningful change. Gun violence is a public safety and a public health issue, and we have so much work to do to end this epidemic of violence. This data will save lives.”

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Virginia Attorney General Candidates Attack Each Other’s Weaknesses at First Debate

Eric Burk

Attorney General Mark Herring and Delegate Jason Miyares (R-Virginia Beach) laid out competing visions for the Office of Attorney General in their first debate Tuesday.

Herring said the attorney general should work for safety, justice, equality, and opportunity for all Virginians. “I believe the attorney general should be the people’s lawyer,” Herring said.

In his opening remarks, Miyares cited his experience as a prosecutor, “which I think is so important when you’re running to be Virginia’s top cop,” he said.

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Warner, Kaine Introduce Red-Flag, Other Federal Gun Control Changes to Mirror Virginia Law

The Center Square

U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner introduced federal gun control legislation Thursday to mirror some of the laws that recently passed their home state of Virginia.

The policies include expanding background checks, limiting handgun purchases and enacting red flag laws at a national level. The senators are calling the legislation the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act.

“Virginia knows all too well the heartbreaking consequences of gun violence,” Warner and Kaine said in a joint statement. “We’ve seen it in the tragedies of Virginia Tech and Virginia Beach and the countless drive-by shootings, domestic violence, and suicides by firearm across the country. We’re proud of the Commonwealth for leading the way to advance gun reform; now it’s time for Congress to save lives.”

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Biden’s Nominee to Lead ATF Pushed Dubious Claim About Waco Siege to Call for Blanket Ban on Assault Rifles

Virginia Star Staff
Assault Rifle on top of gun case

The gun control activist who President Joe Biden is expected to nominate to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) claimed last year that members of the Branch Davidian sect shot down two helicopters during a standoff with federal agents in Waco in 1993.

David Chipman, the expected nominee, posted the comments as part of a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” event. He also called for tighter gun control measures, including restricting gun sales only to licensed gun stores and a ban on the manufacture and sale of so-called assault rifles.

Biden is expected to announce Chipman’s nomination on Thursday during an event where he will lay out a series of executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence.

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Biden Announces Executive Actions on Gun Control, Says Changes Won’t Impact Second Amendment

Virginia Star Staff

President Biden on Thursday announced executive order’s he signed on gun control, including ones to address the issue of homemade, untraceable firearms knows as “ghost guns” and strengthen so-called “red flag” laws that allow police or family members to ask a court to order the temporary removal of guns from a person they say presents a danger to themself and others.

“Enough, enough, enough,” Biden, a Democrat, said in a Rose Garden event before announcing the orders, and following a recent series of mass shootings.

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Analysis: Progressive Myths About Mass Shootings and Weapons of War

Virginia Star Staff

Within a week of blaming “white supremacy” for the murder of six Asian and two white women by a white man in Georgia, progressives are now blaming “assault weapons” for a mass shooting in which a Trump-hating Muslim immigrant with a history of violence, mental illness, and racial animus gunned down 10 white people in a Boulder, Colorado supermarket.

Beyond the duplicity of highlighting race only when the killer is white and the victims are not, progressive lawmakers, activists, and journalists are using a litany of falsehoods in an attempt to ban common semi-automatic guns used for home defense and hunting.

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Top Republicans Seem Open to Some Kind of Gun Control

Virginia Star Staff

Congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden have vowed to act on gun control in the aftermath of two mass shootings that left 18 people dead, but despite their majorities in Congress, Democrats’ proposed bills would be extraordinarily unlikely to overcome a Republican Senate filibuster.

Partisan gridlock on guns is nothing new. No major gun control legislation has passed in over 25 years, when Congress passed a 10-year assault weapons ban under former President Bill Clinton. But despite the constant stalemates, some Republicans have offered alternative plans, meaning that the possibility of some form of bipartisan gun legislation may still exist.

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said Tuesday that while he did not think the two bills passed by the House would overcome a filibuster, there was still opportunity for compromise.

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Gun Control Bills Quick to Pop up in Congress

The Center Square

Democratic congresswomen from New York and Texas each introduced several pieces of legislation that they say are aimed at curbing gun violence.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represents New York’s 12th Congressional District, introduced a package of five bills, three of which she also tried to get passed two years ago, shortly before the third anniversary of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida where 17 people were killed and another 17 injured by a former student.

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Loudoun County Postpones Vote on Gun Ban

Eric Burk

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors postponed until March 2 a decision on local gun bans at a public hearing Wednesday night.

The BOS has been considering a ban for months. The current proposed ordinance would ban firearms and ammunition on county property, but the supervisors are also considering drafts with exemptions for concealed handgun permit (CHP) holders to carry concealed in parks despite the ban.

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Virginia House Public Safety Firearms Subcommittee Killing Pro-Gun Bills

Eric Burk

The House of Delegates continues passing restrictions on firearms in Virginia, including on Monday, with a bill banning guns on Capitol grounds and a bill prohibiting people convicted of assaulting a family member from possessing firearms. But the House has killed or stalled four pro-gun bills that would have walked back firearms restrictions.

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Virginia Governor Northam Optimistic About State of the Commonwealth

Eric Burk

Speaking in a mostly empty House of Delegates Chamber on Wednesday night, Governor Ralph Northam delivered an optimistic State of the Commonwealth address. In the live-streamed speech, Northam acknowledged the suffering caused by COVID-19 and an economic downturn, but highlighted stories of heroic Virginians from the past year. He touted the progress Virginia’s government made towards progressive goals in 2020, and called for more change.

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Congressional Debate: Candidates Scott Taylor and Incumbent Elaine Luria Spar Over Stimulus Packages and Gun Control

Corinne Murdock

Republican challenger Scott Taylor and incumbent Representative Elaine Luria (D-Virginia Beach) faced off Tuesday night in their first televised debate. The 2nd Congressional District race is currently a toss-up.
Political reporter Joe St. George served as the moderator. Questions featured were presented in three segments: from the moderator first, then viewers, and lastly from Taylor and Luria.

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Richmond Bans Guns While City Collapses from Rioters

Jacob Taylor

Richmond Police Department (RPD) officers were seen at the Robert E. Lee monument on Saturday morning posting signs on the recently-passed Richmond city gun ordinance. 

The new ordinance, passed unanimously by the Richmond city council early this month, does not outright ban firearms in public spaces, but it does call for restrictions when a permitted event is taking place.

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Pureval Stakes His Congressional Run on Belief That Ohio’s First District Wants More Gun Control

Anthony Accardi
Aftab Pureval

If there’s one issue that could decide Ohio’s First Congressional District race, it’s gun control. Voters have a clear choice between Rep. Steve Chabot, an 11-term incumbent with a track record of supporting the Second Amendment, and his Democrat challenger Aftab Pureval, who has been upfront about his disdain for…

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Correcting the Media Misinformation About Arming Teachers

Admin
armed teachers

by James D. Agresti   Misinformation can be deadly, especially when it comes to issues like school shootings. This is because it can build support for policies that increase fatalities and generate opposition to reforms that can save lives. Despite these high stakes, a wide array of media outlets have…

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On the 10th Anniversary of the Heller Decision, Many States Refuse to Recognize the Second Amendment

Admin

By Natalia Castro   Ten years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that every American has a basic right to defend themselves. D.C. v. Heller affirmed the constitutional right granted in the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms not just for the purpose of creating a militia but also for basic protection for…

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