Our Virginia Law Shield members may take heart that a recent important state senate election hinged on the turn-out of gun voters. It seems the state’s voters lived up to the state motto, sic semper tyrannis.
Background: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has been anti-gun-rights his entire career, and his recent advocacy of gun control in a pivotal Senate race in the Richmond area likely backfired because the Governor teamed up with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to promote Democrat Daniel A. Gecker.
In that race, Republican Glen H. Sturtevant won the 10th District seat, beating Gecker, who was tied to $700,000 of donations from Bloomberg. GOP supporters ran ads that said Gecker was trying to buy the seat with Bloomberg’s money.
The mere mention of Bloomberg’s name activates gun proponents to donate, volunteer, and vote all across the country.
Takeaway: Sturtevant’s win enabled Republicans to retain control of the Senate.
A Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial recapped the race, saying, “The Democrat made a massive mistake when he accepted campaign swag from an interest group affiliated with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who seeks tougher gun control laws. Gecker might have lost anyway, but the Bloomberg intervention gave Powhatan voters a reason to rise up in indignation. Sturtevant also received funds from outsider sources but the Bloomberg connection vividly cast Gecker on the wrong side of an issue of vital concern to Powhatan’s citizenry. A campaign focused on guns redounded to Gecker’s despair. This is not a surprise.”
McAuliffe’s failure to win Democratic control of the Senate means he has little to no chance of passing new gun-control laws. Law Shield thinks this is an important roadblock to gun- and accessory-ban attempts by groups controlled by Bloomberg that are being waged on the state and local levels.
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