I will be cold in the low 30's on Monday, and every one will be warmly dressed. Almost everyone will be outside all day.
So the question is, will the "Grounds" (exactly what they are I don't now, and now that is very relevant) be cordoned off with metal detectors and handheld scanners to get in, or not? I have not heard yet. With no cordons or detectors, we could have massive civil disobedience, and no one would ever know. There WILL be detectors to get into the statehouse.
You'll notice that all these changes to Lobby day rules are being made as close to Lobby Day as possible. That's on purpose, of course.
Northam the Liar and Coward gives reasons for his actions that are the best and most reasonable ones he can come up with (repeat of Charlottesville, out-of-state militias), but they are certainly pure bullsh!t.
I won't go into the (already) long discussions on this but Charlottsville and Lobby day are far, far different things, and he's even said they have no credible threats (only unspecified worries) about out of state militias. There are simply no counter-protester numbers that could even approach 2-3 percent of our numbers (there could be some peripheral scuffles, but hardly a war).
Since the overwhelming majority of people attending Lobby day in Richmond will be good solid citizens with permits (remember you can't get a permit without being a good solid citizen) (and 632K have been issued in VA, and VA recognizes all 50 other state's permits), the vast majority were planning to come armed (mostly concealed). So Northam has issued this edict to discourage people from coming at all. It's that simple. A giant gun free zone with packed in tens of thousands would sure be an unmissable target, and the military types coming know it, and sure won't like it. (Imagine a belt fed in a hotel window.)
And also, none of us wants to make enemies of rank and file policemen. Nor should we (at least at this early stage). The hope is never of course.
Word has it that Northam and Bloomberg (and his people) are working closely together on all of VA's pending gun legislation, and ongoing day to day strategy. Plenty of public news on Bloomberg backing Northam all the way, and since he spent many millions buying the Democrat majority here, he's making sure he gets his money's worth (and they are dutifully towing the line).
30 is not cold. Not even close. Hoody weather.
