Terry McAuliffe speaking at Frying Pan Park in Herndon, VA. / Photo by Kate Wellington via Flickr

Just after every Presidential Election is the Virginia gubernatorial election, this is a crucial election every cycle because it can speak volumes as to the current administration’s handling of issues and the outcome of this election will impact elections in 2022.

This year it’s Terry McAuliffe(D), former Virginia governor, and Glenn Youngkin(R), an American businessman, going toe to toe for control of the state just south of America’s capital.

Gun control and support for the 2nd Amendment are not issues that generally make their way into Virginia elections, they tend to have some impact but these issues almost never determine the outcome of these elections. This year things may change, gun control has become unpopular in the state as gun ownership is trending upwards and with it support for the 2nd Amendment.

Republican Glenn Youngkin has offered few reassurances for gun owners in the state of Virginia, in all honesty, it’s hard to peg down his exact stance on the 2nd Amendment. Youngkin infamously ignored a mailer from the NRA where he would have been able to secure his position to voters via the NRA’s grading scale. We can assume at the very least that Glenn Youngkin would not push any major gun control if he were in charge of the state,  unfortunately, the opposite is assumed of Terry McAuliffe.

Democrat Terry McAuliffe is a gun grabber through and through, all the talking points generated by the gun lobby are regurgitated by him and his campaign. McAuliffe described guns as a public health issue as opposed to an issue of criminality, this line has been used by anti-gun lobbyists in recent years and his employment of this terminology is evidence that McAuliffe is “with the program” so to speak.    

McAuliffe’s anti-gun leanings don’t end with one mere public statement, there are many more issues that come up with his record on 2A. McAuliffe’s plan for gun control is simply really, do away with Virginia’s current gun laws, which are already sub-par, and bring California-style gun control to the state. His plans make it clear why the anti-gun lobby in Washinton has crowned McAuliffe as their model candidate. 

One jewel in McAuliffe’s gun control crown is a proposal to ban semi-automatic rifles and “high capacity” magazines. This proposal by McAuliffe would mean that magazines that take more than 10 rounds would be made illegal therefore subject to seizure by authorities. McAuliffe’s proposal would also ban semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15, contrary to popular belief these rifles really aren’t used in crime and the fear surrounding them is based entirely on dishonest media reporting and clever framing by the media. 

If a ban on 10-round magazines and AR-15s is just another jewel in McAuliffe’s gun control crown then his proposal for gun owner registration is the crown jewel. McAuliffe is looking to make a registry of all firearm owners in the state of Virginia. McAuliffe wants to introduce permit-to-purchase laws in the state of Virginia, this is effectively a registry of gun owners. Know that these laws require the collection and storage of gun owners’ personal information in a database, this would make any potential confiscation a lot easier. 

Terry McAuliffe’s gun control agenda does not stop there. McAuliffe would also like to institute mandatory waiting periods on all gun sales as well as background checks for all gun transfers including those guns given as gifts. McAuliffe also has it out for Virginians right to carry, McAuliffe has stated that he wants to further restrict the ability to carry in certain public spaces. 

While Glenn Youngkin is not the ideal 2A candidate, he certainly is not a gun grabber. McAuliffe, on the other hand, is a gun grabber through and through, if he were elected it would be a disaster for gun owners in the state of Virginia.

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