Highland Deac
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Long article detailing what's been happening in Virginia. The new Democratic majority in the state legislature was elected specifically on a pledge to pass some gun control legislation. The bill that passed the VA Senate would allow local officials to ban guns from public events, require a background check on all private transfers of firearms, and restricts VA residents to buying one handgun a month (the horror!) However, these rather mild changes have been treated like the apocalypse by gun nuts.
As the article states, "The reactions to Northam’s announcement [of a state of emergency] reflect the blend of frustration, paranoia and fear that has been fomenting both online and throughout Virginia in the weeks and months leading up to Monday’s rally...What started in November as a fight between rural Virginia gun owners and newly elected Democratic lawmakers seeking to propose gun control legislation has since been warped and amplified by extremist groups which, for different reasons, have sought to exploit real tensions around Virginia’s gun debate to advance their own agendas. Over the last two months, these groups have wielded unsubstantiated rumors and fake news reports to promote conspiracy theories about a Democratic plot to forcibly confiscate guns. Such theories have successfully fueled outrage and helped amplify rhetoric online." A great example of the negative power of social media, and how effective right-wingers have become to gin up their rural base.
Link: https://news.yahoo.com/virginia-on-edge-as-progun-activists-seethe-over-governors-state-of-emergency-200500771.html
As the article states, "The reactions to Northam’s announcement [of a state of emergency] reflect the blend of frustration, paranoia and fear that has been fomenting both online and throughout Virginia in the weeks and months leading up to Monday’s rally...What started in November as a fight between rural Virginia gun owners and newly elected Democratic lawmakers seeking to propose gun control legislation has since been warped and amplified by extremist groups which, for different reasons, have sought to exploit real tensions around Virginia’s gun debate to advance their own agendas. Over the last two months, these groups have wielded unsubstantiated rumors and fake news reports to promote conspiracy theories about a Democratic plot to forcibly confiscate guns. Such theories have successfully fueled outrage and helped amplify rhetoric online." A great example of the negative power of social media, and how effective right-wingers have become to gin up their rural base.
Link: https://news.yahoo.com/virginia-on-edge-as-progun-activists-seethe-over-governors-state-of-emergency-200500771.html