RICHMOND, Va. — Activists on both sides of the gun control debate gathered at Capitol Square's Bell Tower Monday for Lobby Day.
Both the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) and the Virginia Center for Public Safety (VCPS) came out to push for their causes.
With support from the National Rifle Association (NRA), the VCDL says it aims to represent Virginia gun owners who are concerned about anti-gun bills being proposed this legislative session, as Democrats have unified control.
Chris Stone with Gun Owners of America was one of the speakers to take to the podium, rallying for the right to bear arms.
"It isn't about safety, it's about control," Stone said. "It isn't about the common good. It is purely about controlling, discouraging, and beating you into submission. It's about forcing lifelong Virginians to flee the state. But I have a word for them. I'm not fleeing."
Meanwhile, the VCPS said they are honoring Martin Luther King Jr., whose life was cut short by gun violence, by lobbying to prevent more gun violence in the future.
Kathryn Babineau, who lost her her husband, Soloman Banjo, in September. Babineau was by his side at a bar in Southport, North Carolina, when someone on a boat fire shots into the crowd. Banjo was one of three people killed.
"This problem does not discriminate," Babineau said. "And it is only through the kind of collective action that we're talking about today that we will actually make ourselves safer."
There are 20 bills centered on firearms — both to tighten control or increase access — moving through the General Assembly this session, according to the Legislative Information System. Some of those bills are duplicates.
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