Well, if there is one thing about Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, he has zero sense of shame. In fact, that could be directed at the entirety of Virginia’s executive branch. Last week, there was a horrific shooting at Virginia Beach, where a former city employee shot and killed 12 people. The motive is still being investigated, but he was not fired or forced out. For what we know now, the perpetrator, DeWayne Craddock, randomly opened fire on his former workers in a senseless act of violence (via NYT):
DeWayne Craddock, an engineer who had worked for the City of Virginia Beach for about 15 years, notified his superiors on Friday that he intended to quit.
Then at around 4 p.m., he embarked on a rampage in Building No. 2 of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, turning its offices and corridors into a battleground. When it was over, 12 people lay dead and Mr. Craddock was fatally wounded.
As the authorities on Sunday shared a more detailed accounting of the siege, they also acknowledged for the first time that the gunman’s employment had been nearing its end. But they said he had not been forced to resign.
James A. Cervera, the police chief in Virginia Beach, said investigators were focused on establishing what Mr. Craddock’s motives were and whether his job status “had anything to do with the horrific acts and events that he perpetrated.”
At a news conference on Sunday, Chief Cervera offered a chilling timeline of what happened in Building No. 2, the stately 1970s-vintage brick structure where Mr. Craddock opened fire on three floors and where a small team of police officers rushed to confront an employee who had become an assailant.
The first urgent calls, the chief said, were received at 4:08 p.m., and less than two minutes later officers were outside the building, which over the years had become what he called a “honeycomb” of rooms and passageways. There was no time to consult a blueprint, no time to map out a strategy. They had to find the gunman.
By 4:18 p.m., the chief said, the officers had located Mr. Craddock, a 40-year-old former soldier who was armed with two handguns and plenty of ammunition.
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Now, why do I say Northam has no shame? Have we all forgotten that he admitted to wearing blackface and was featured in a racist yearbook photo that he admitted to being in when it was revealed and verified by local Virginia news outlets? In that picture, one person is wearing blackface while another is in full Ku Klux Klan regalia. Northam did not specify who he was in the picture, but he confessed to being one of them. Yes, this is worthy of resignation. In fact, if a Republican had been caught, that person should rightfully be shown the door. Northam is a Democrat. He thinks he plays by a separate set of rules, and so far, he’s survived because of them. His lieutenant governor, Justin Fairfax, faces two allegations of sexual assault. Virginia’s attorney general, Mark Herring, confessed as well; he wore blackface in college. So, the trio that’s going to lead Virginia towards healing has been accused of rape or racism. Well, that sounds like a stunning recipe for success…if you’ve done three lines of coke laced with Drano. We’re going to have a special gun control session, where assault weapons bans, suppressor bans, magazine limits, and other initiatives that won’t increase public safety will be debated (via AP):
Va. Gov. Ralph Northam is recalling lawmakers to push for gun control legislation after the Va. Beach shooting that includes universal background checks, an "assault weapons" ban, a suppressor ban, and a ban on bump stocks.
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 4, 2019
"If we can save one life...it is worth it." pic.twitter.com/g9VGe9RX2y
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam will recall lawmakers to the state Capitol in coming weeks to take up a package of gun-control legislation.
Northam told The Associated Press ahead of his Tuesday announcement that he plans to convene a special legislative session later this summer. The Democrat said new laws are urgently needed to prevent killings like Friday's mass shooting in Virginia Beach.
Police said a Virginia Beach city employee used two semi-automatic handguns, a silencer and extended ammo magazines to kill 12 people. Northam's proposed legislation would ban silencers and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
We’re going to have another round of idiocy from the Left on this issue, folks. The perpetrator used two handguns, but we’re going to discuss the AR-15 because anti-gun liberals are stupid and still find it scary, despite being owned by millions of Americans. Suppressors don’t make a gun more lethal, nor does it make it undetectable. The Men in Black don’t exist. Magazine limits don’t increase public safety; it just chips away at constitutional rights. Also, suppressors aren’t readily available. This isn’t like buying cough syrup. Suppressors fall under the National Firearms Act, which heavily regulates suppressors, machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, or short-barreled rifles. The database is maintained by the ATF. The background check process has reportedly improved, but it could take up to six months. In some cases, the background check process took a year or more. You have to pay for the tax stamp as well. It’s not like your typical check through an FFL dealer.
When the GOP held a supermajority in the House of Delegates, I wouldn’t be as worried. But the Virginia Republican Party has razor slim majorities in the House and Senate that could very well be erased by the next election cycle. They’ve vowed to protect gun rights and last February, they did just that—torpedoing most of the anti-gun proposals brought forward. Still, there should be a healthy line of skepticism. The VA GOP has been a mess since for nearly ten years; picking candidates that can’t win and watching their majorities in the state legislature virtually collapse. Vulnerable Republicans might entertain or even vote for some proposals if it helps their chances at winning re-election; they’re politicians after all. They want to keep their jobs, even if it means spitting in the faces of the people who put them there based on their Second Amendment advocacy. We’re already hearing some rumblings that some Republicans might hear their anti-gun colleague’s trash ideas (via WaPo):
One top Republican suggested Monday that he was open to taking up the issue, though he did not commit to specifics. “I was in Virginia Beach yesterday, and I think there ought to be a meaningful discussion legislatively and in the community about gun control,” said Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (James City), according to an account in the Virginia Gazette newspaper that was confirmed by his spokesman.
Norment was addressing about 80 protesters who had gathered outside his office in Williamsburg. They were chanting and holding signs calling for gun control, citing the horrific events Friday, when a Virginia Beach city employee shot and killed 12 people in a municipal building.
[…]
“I think he was listening,” said Lori Haas, Virginia director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, whose daughter was wounded in the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, which left 32 dead. “This issue is not going away. It’s politically volatile for the Republicans.”
The topic is especially sensitive in an election year when all 140 seats in the legislature are on the November ballot. Republicans are nursing two-seat majorities in both the Senate and the House of Delegates, and Democrats are hoping to inspire bigger-than-usual turnout to change the balance of power.
Polls have shown that Virginians increasingly favor tightening the state’s gun laws, which are among the most permissive in the nation.
Never give Democrats an inch. They’re not our friends. This is war. It’s an election year. I wish the GOP would have that mindset more often. There’s nothing honorable about losing. In the meantime, the Postadded that Gov. Northam has not ruled out issuing some executive actions this weekend.
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