Virginia Lobby Day 2023: VCDL and Republicans Focus on Blocking Democratic Gun Bills, Hope for More Action in 2024

RICHMOND, Virginia — Republicans and gun rights activists rallied at the Virginia Capitol on Monday, known as Lobby Day. They said this year’s General Assembly will be focused on blocking gun control legislation and on picking like-minded candidates for primaries and in the November general election. At a separate rally and a press conference Monday, Democrats announced measures aimed at preventing gun violence, but with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats controlling the Senate, both parties are likely to have little success in passing legislation.

“We’ve heard from the Virginia Senate that they’re the brick wall,” Delegate Tim Anderson (R-Virginia Beach) told the crowd outside the Bell Tower. “We saw them kill a lot of legislative priorities last year from Republicans. But what you’re going to see this year: the Democrats have dropped a lot of anti-Second Amendment bills, and what you’re going to see is this Republican majority in the House stand up to that and kill that in our public safety committee. And so that’s a big thing. You’re not going to see repeals of all of the laws that have offended us that the Democrats passed in 2020 and 2021, because while we can get them out of our house, they will die in the Senate.”

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Second Amendment Advocates Pour Into Virginia’s Capitol for Lobby Day 2021

Buses, a decommissioned ambulance, and lots of cars and trucks traveled through Richmond for hours on Monday afternoon as part of the Virginia Citizens Defense League’s (VCDL) Lobby Day 2021 demonstration. Most vehicles sported VCDL flags and decals; a few also waved Trump flags and other paraphernalia.

“When the first bus came, it just seemed like car after car after car, decked out, horns honking, people waving,” VCDL President Phil Van Cleave said. Car caravans came from all corners of the Commonwealth.

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Pro-Gun Rights Car Caravan Planned for Lobby Day

Lobby Day, the annual tradition where Virginians from across the state gather in Richmond to engage lawmakers on pressing issues, is going to look quite different this year.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) Lobby Day 2021 is set to take place on Monday in Richmond, but this year, instead of a massive gathering of mostly armed individuals at the Capitol, the gun-rights advocacy group is organizing a car caravan through the heart of the city.

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Ahead of Second Amendment Lobby Day and Rally in Virginia Monday, Warnings of a ‘Set-Up’ Against Supporters Spread

RICHMOND, Virginia – Supporters of the 2nd Amendment have received warnings about being set up at the annual rally at the Commonwealth of Virginia capitol, which has become ground-zero for the constitutionally protected right of Americans to keep and bear arms.

For nearly two decades, Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) has organized an annual trek to the General Assembly on Martin Luther King Day to peacefully assemble and lobby their legislators on the 2nd Amendment.

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