In the U.S. state of Virginia, thousands of gun supporters have protested stricter laws. For fear of violence, the democratic governor banned the demonstration from weapons. Nevertheless, many rifles could be seen in the city.
Under massive security measures, thousands of gun supporters gathered in Richmond, Virginia, for a demonstration against tougher gun laws. The Capitol Square and the streets had filled up hours before the rally officially started. It was feared that violent right-wing extremists could mingle with the demonstrators. Democratic governor Ralph Northam had previously declared Richmond to be in a state of emergency.
Weapons
The protesters were therefore checked for weapons around the Capitol building – but dozens of demonstrators in the surrounding streets carried their rifles and pistols openly on display. Among other things, the protests are directed against a planned law that is to ban the purchase of more than one firearm per month in Virginia.
US President Donald Trump previously fueled the protest against the democratic government’s plans to tighten gun laws. The Virginia government is working hard to deprive people of the right to own weapons, Trump wrote. “This is just the beginning. Don’t let it happen.” Protest participants chanted “USA, USA” and – with a view to a possible further term of Trump – “another four years”.
Warning of readiness to use violence
There was great concern about riots at the rally. Governor Northam said last week that there was information that armed groups and hateful groups were planning to do “malicious acts” during the demonstration. Gun opponents had also announced a counter demonstration.
“Nobody wants another incident like the one we saw in Charlottesville in 2017,” said the governor. During a demonstration of white nationalists and neo-Nazis, riots broke out in the city, which is also in Virginia, on August 12, 2017. A woman was murdered and several people injured when a neo-Nazi ran into a counter-demonstration with his car. The case made headlines because Trump did not clearly distance himself from the far right.
Change of government in November
Virginia has been ruled by the Democrats since the November 2019 election. Among other things, they had won the election with the promise of stricter gun laws. In Virginia alone, more than 1,000 people were killed by gun violence in 2018 alone. This high number was an issue in the campaign last year.
A broad protest movement has formed in the traditionally conservative state against the plans to tighten arms law. More than a hundred counties and cities in Virginia have already declared themselves “protected areas” for the second constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to private weapon ownership in the United States. The Virginia government has already given up a planned ban on semi-automatic weapons in the face of the protests.
Fake news from the right
Fake news also played a major role in mobilizing against government plans. For example, right-wing radicals spread the rumor in December that Northam wanted to “collect” the arms of the citizens. And he wanted to “turn off electricity, phone, fax, cellular and the Internet” so that people could not inform the public about the action. Corresponding news has been shared tens of thousands of times on social media.
