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Richmond Times-Dispatch<\/em>, January 15, 2024<\/strong> On Monday morning, hundreds of gun rights supporters clustered by the Bell Tower in Capitol Square for a rally with the Virginia Citizens Defense League.<\/p>\n Wearing orange \u201cguns save lives\u201d stickers and armed with custom-made or VCDL-branded signs, the group listened to speakers, including Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot compromise,\u201d Pratt told the rally\u2019s attendees, \u201cbecause every new compromise becomes the starting point for the next set of calls for gun control.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more at Richmond.com<\/a><\/p>\n The Washington Post<\/em>, January 15, 2024<\/strong> [Philip] Van Cleave\u2019s group assembled a few hundred gun rights advocates Monday on a frigid Capitol Square \u2014 with a secure bus parked nearby to stash their weapons. Firearms have been prohibited in the square since 2021, a year after thousands of gun rights advocates from around the country swamped downtown Richmond with a massive protest against gun control\u2026.<\/p>\n The Second Amendment \u201cis the right which protects all the other rights. And that\u2019s why we cannot compromise, not even a little bit. Not even a little gun-control light,\u201d Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, said at the rally.<\/p>\n Bundled-up supporters wearing orange \u201cGuns Save Lives\u201d stickers joined him in chanting the key lines of the Second Amendment: \u201cshall not be infringed.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more at The Washington Post<\/a><\/p>\n Cardinal News<\/em>, January 15, 2024<\/strong> [F]or most Republicans and gun rights activists, all Democratic measures seeking to restrict access to guns are non-starters \u2014 especially the proposed assault weapons ban.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are commonly owned rifles that many people own and use to protect their families, these are self-defense tools,\u201d said Jordan Stein, a spokesman for Gun Owners of America, who attended Monday\u2019s rally.<\/p>\n Another proposal of concern for gun rights advocates is House Bill 319, also sponsored by Helmer, which would prohibit nationally recognized instructors affiliated with the pro-gun lobby groups National Rifle Association and United States Concealed Carry Association from teaching classes to obtain handgun permits.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bill would make obtaining a handgun permit quite difficult,\u201d Stein said. \u201cOftentimes anti-gunners talk about safety, but that bill would actually make it harder for you to attend a class that would make you safer with a gun, it\u2019s kind of ironic. We are going to fight this tooth and nail every step of the way, and we hope to kill the bills in the legislature. And if we can\u2019t do that, we are urging Youngkin to veto them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nby Charlotte Rene Woods and Dave Ress<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nby Gregory S. Schneider and Laura Vozzella<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nby Markus Schmidt<\/strong><\/p>\n