According to Bearing Arms
It’s hard to believe that it was less than a year ago when more than 20,000 gun owners took to the streets around the state capitol building in Richmond, Virginia to rally in opposition to Gov. Ralph Northam’s gun control agenda. If anti-gun advocates on the Richmond City Council get their way, that rally will likely be the last mass gathering of armed citizens lobbying in defense of their Second Amendment rights.
City council members on Tuesday approved an ordinance pushed by Mayor Levar Stoney that would ban the carrying of firearms “in any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way or any open public space when it is being used by, or is adjacent to, an event that requires a city permit.”
There were some questions asked in the meeting on Aug. 20 about guns not being allowed “adjacent” to events. The mayor clarified that saying sometimes when there’s a protest or rally, there are counter-protesters who may bring weapons.
In addition to the massive rally by gun owners back in January, there’ve been a couple of other Second Amendment rallies on Capitol Square over the past several months. We’ve also seen a number of armed protesters around the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, which has become the focal point of BLM protests in the city since June. Under this new ordinance, it’s likely that none of this activity would be legal, which raises some serious questions about the constitutionality of the law.
City councilwoman Kim Gray says she believes the language of the ordinance could also spell trouble for legal gun owners who aren’t a part of any protest or a permitted event.