Thousands of armed US gun rights activists join peaceful Virginia rally

More than 22,000armedgun-rightsactivistspeacefully filled the streets aroundVirginia's capitol building on Monday to protestgun-control legislation making its way through the newly Democratic-controlled state legislature.

Despite fears that neo-Nazis or other extremists would piggyback on the Richmondrallyto stoke unrest like the violence at a 2017 demonstration by white nationalists in Charlottesville that killed a counter-protester, the Capitol Police reported just one arrest, a 21-year-old woman taken into custody for wearing a bandana over her face after twice being warned that masks were not allowed.

Chants of "USA! USA! USA!" and others praising President Donald Trump reverberated as men and women carrying handgunsand rifles squeezed into the streets around theVirginiastate capitol, standing shoulder-to-shoulder for three blocks in all directions.

There was a heavy security presence after Governor Ralph Northam banned carrying weapons onto the capitol grounds and the FBI earlier last week arrested three alleged neo-Nazis who it said intended to use the event to spark a race war.

But by 1 pmET, nearly allrally-goers had left the area, with volunteers picking up trash left behind. The Capitol Police estimated the crowd at 22,000 people.

Activistsat therallyorganized by theVirginiaCitizens Defense League argued thatVirginiawas trying to infringe on their right to bear arms, which is protected by the Second Amendment of theUSConstitution.

"What's going on here, if not stopped, will spread to other states," said Teri Horne, who had traveled toVirginiafrom her home in Texas with her Smith & Wesson rifle and .40-caliber handgun. "They will come for our gunsin other states if we don't stop them inVirginia."

Northam, a Democrat, has vowed to push through newguncontrol laws and is backing a package of eight bills, including universal background checks, a "red flag" law, a ban on assault-style rifles and a limit of one handgun-a-month purchase. It does not call for confiscating gunscurrently legally owned.

It is not his first attempt. He called a special legislative session last year after the massacre of 12 people inVirginiaBeach, but the Republicans who then controlled the legislature ended that meeting without a vote.

State Democratic leaders andactivistsbelieve that move contributed to the November victories that gave them control of both chambers.

A group of 13 studentactivistsfrom March For Our Lives, agun-control group, slept inside the capitol building on Sunday night ahead of impromptu meetings with lawmakers to encourage them to pass the legislation.

"A lot of the protesters outside have a really extreme reading of the Second Amendment," Eve Levenson, a 20-year-old political science student at George Washington University, said in a telephone interview. "What we're fighting for is common-sense laws that are proven to work and are already effective in other states."

Many in the crowds dressed in camouflage or tactical gear. Some browsed vendors' pro-gunT-shirts and other merchandise, much of it carrying slogans supporting Trump, who has sharply criticized thegun-control proposals.

The president weighed in again on theVirginiasituation on Monday.

"The Democrat Party in the Great Commonwealth ofVirginiais working hard to take away your 2nd Amendmentrights," Trump wrote on Twitter. "This is just the beginning. Don't let it happen, VOTE REPUBLICAN in 2020!"

The Democrat Party in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia are working hard to take away your 2nd Amendment rights. This is just the beginning. Don’t let it happen, VOTE REPUBLICAN in 2020! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2020

People across the United States were focused on theVirginiagunissue, said Philip Van Cleave, leader of theVirginiaCitizens Defense League.

"They don't want us to fail in stopping this," Van Cleave said on Sunday. "We've gotten huge donations from other states."

"TheVirginiaelection last November was an indictment of guns, and it was not an outlier," said Christian Heyne, who leads legislative efforts at thegunviolence prevention group Brady. "Virginiacandidates flipped things on their head when they won because of thegunissue, not despite it."

The state'sgunowners responded with a movement to create "sanctuary cities" forgunrights, with local government bodies in nearly all 95 counties passing declarations not to enforce newgunlaws.

Grayson County Sheriff Richard Vaughan, who is from a sanctuary county, held aloft a banner supporting the Second Amendment on a street in front of the capitol.

"Some of these bills being proposed are just unconstitutional and we will not enforce them," Vaughan said. "As a sheriff, I am the last line of defense between law-abidinggunowners and the politicians who want to take away theirrights."

The sanctuary idea has quickly spread across the United States, with over 200 local governments in 16 states passing such measures.