Quote of the Day
Is Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) a mole for the National Rifle Association (NRA)? After the recent scandal involving the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), some may wonder given a curious turn of events in Virginia. Gun sales have surged after Spanberger and the Democrats passed sweeping gun bans. Spanberger also issued a public statement that could help tank the legislation in court — resulting in the striking down of the law (or parts of the law) after spurring record gun sales.
After July 1st, it will be a misdemeanor to buy, sell, transfer, or make an “assault firearm.”
With a July 1 deadline looming, background checks and sales are surging in Virginia. Stores are reporting that they cannot keep weapons on the shelves as Virginians flood stores to beat the deadline.
State Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Dunn Loring, a Spanberger ally who introduced the bill, further fueled the panic by declaring that the legislation will “gradually” take these guns because these firearms “do not belong on our streets.”
Jonathan Turley
June 7, 2026
The Spanberger Surge: Virginia Governor May Prove the Greatest Gun Influencer Since Charlton Heston
Don’t every let anyone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns.
Also, I have to wonder… It was a long time ago, but my impression is that Obama and Hillary Clinton both were bigger sales boosters than Heston.
Still, even if it is an exaggeration, the point is valid, anti-gun politicians are a huge boost to gun sales and hence a boost to political organization and pro-gun organization memberships and financials. And what I don’t think the politicians realize is that the more extreme the gun laws the easier target they are. It creates low hanging fruit to create precedents which can be leveraged to eliminate a wider range of gun restrictions.
They create the conditions for their own downfall and the policies they advocate.
The problem is how much damage they do along the way. And not just to gun rights – although that is a decent metric for just how bad a politician can be in general.
Agreed.
That’s an overly optimistic view of things.
It is true that the Clinton administration’s war on gun owners was a failure in the end. But let’s not forget that it almost succeeded.
Surveys at the time showed declining gun ownership. People were getting discouraged by the string of victories by the anti-gunners. It wasn’t until their catastrophic defeat on the Smith and Wesson deal, due to the boycott of that company, that gun sales started going up again.
If I recall correctly, there was an initial surge of buying right after the AWB was passed, but the refusal of Dole and Gingrich to repeal it convinced a lot of gun owners that the game was over.
It isn’t exactly the same today. Many of the anti-gun laws will probably not survive judicial review. But control of the Supreme Court is a transient thing.
Clinton’s AWB was part of the reason I purchased my first gun. That and the helpless I felt when Ruby Ridge happened just a few miles from where I was living at the time.
Ruby Ridge was Bush 1 and was 2 years before the AWB.
I bought my first gun after I had moved from Sandpoint to Moscow Idaho and after Clinton had been elected. It was a few months before the AWB was passed, but everyone knew it was coming.
Looking back, it is strange to think AR and AK pattern rifles were basically niche firearms until 1994. People thought of the AR rifles as “mouse guns.” Then thanks to the AWB, They became “America’s Sporting Rifle.”
I have always thought Barak Obama sold more guns to Americans through his rhetoric than Sam Colt. But so did the Clintons and every politician who has supported gun control in this country. Spangenberger and the Democrats in the Virginia legislature may see to it that Democrats are the minority party in that state for the next 25 years thanks to their overreaching policies.
Look up the FBI/NCIS report on background checks. The annual total was steady from 1999-2005 at 8 million, then something shifted in 2006, reaching 39 million during the covid lockdown, then falling back to 28 million last year. In the monthly totals, you can see 9-11, Obama’s elections, and the Dec. 2012 Newtown school shooting and subsequent surge in sales. Email me if you want links or other details.
I am completely willing to see those number go back down to 1992 levels.
As long as the reason it goes down is that people are building their own firearms in their open-source programmed, air-gapped or USB-gapped household CNC and 3D printer units, and they only have to buy pressure-bearing components like barrel blanks to be finished in the auto-lathe, although some will buy the gucci furniture from Magpul.