Reading in some places (mostly gun forums), where the Debbie Downers are out in full-force, claiming this event was a waste of time and accomplished “nothing”...
Hogwash.
1) I don’t think a soul there was under any illusion the governor or legislature would change their minds about the proposed bills. Knowing this, they still chose to use a day off work, travel on their own dime and voluntarily stand in really frigid temperatures for an opportunity to let their voices be heard, even though they knew it would be falling on deaf ears.
2) Many were expecting only 1500-2000 folks, tops, to show for the event. I believe we can all agree the crowd numbers were exponentially higher....there was a need to be heard and folks, LOTS of them, willingly and enthusiastically answered the call.
3) The media narrative (most every facet of it) got all shot to sh*t. The crowd proved this event was not an issue of white/black, male/female, young/old or gay/straight. The issue was solely about liberty of free citizens...ALL free citizens.
4) Many of the participants were armed with the same weapons that are demonized by politicians and the media. No shots were fired and no one was injured/killed.
5) Armed citizens are not a problem. If that crowd had any intent at all to create a problem, there were enough of them there to do just that and there wouldn’t have been a damned thing anyone could have done to stop them. I know Northam gave all the credit for de-escalation to security personnel staffing the event, but the thing is, there was nothing to de-escalate. There were thousands of armed, pissed off citizens attending and the sole reason the event did not turn into a sh*t show was due to the self-discipline of those citizens...that’s it...that’s all. They were cool customers and it is the only reason the event went smoothly.
5) The citizens in attendance proved they were good stewards. They did not tear anything up or vandalize/destroy property. Some of them even brought trash bags and cleaned up after the event ended.
6) This was a peaceful step in the process. Those folks chose not to “take the gloves off” as a first resort.
In my opinion, this was a win and it was a huge one. The citizens who chose to attend should be commended...every one of ‘em.
If anyone needs a reason to be proud of being a citizen of this Republic, look no further than what happened in Richmond today.