How a 2019 vote on Virginia's red flag law is shaking up a GOP primary in 2023

[RandySF]

COLONIAL HEIGHTS — When Glen Sturtevant stood to speak to diehard gun rights supporters gathered at an American Legion post last week, he knew he had some explaining to do.

A former state senator with a moderate profile who is trying to make a political comeback in a more conservative district, Sturtevant opened his remarks by telling the crowd he had cast some votes he “regretted.” Supporting a proposed red flag law in 2019, he said later in Thursday’s candidate forum hosted by the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League, was “a mistake.”

“At the time we thought it was a way to try to stop some of these shootings by mentally ill folks,” Sturtevant said, noting that both former President Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association had expressed support for red flag laws as a general concept. “We’ve seen since that it is abusive and bad policy.”

Sturtevant’s vote for a red flag law, an idea that didn’t pass in 2019 but was enacted in 2020 once Democrats took full control of the General Assembly, has been an early sticking point in what’s expected to be one of the liveliest Republican primary battles of 2023.

Both of Sturtevant’s GOP opponents in the suburban Richmond district — firebrand Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, and nonprofit leader and former congressional candidate Tina Ramirez — have used the issue to attack Sturtevant, highlighting the electoral risks for Republicans who express any support for limitations on gun rights.

Sturtevant, Chase and Ramirez will face off in a primary on June 20. The district they’re competing in leans Republican, covering a large swathe of Chesterfield County and the city of Colonial Heights.



https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/03/20/how-a-2019-vote-on-virginias-red-flag-law-is-shaking-up-a-gop-primary-in-2023/

[DET]

1. Disturbing

Some takeaways from the cited article…

- All three said they support lifting restrictions on regular citizens owning fully automatic machine guns.

- Raising the specter of war with China, Chase said “we as Americans always have to be ready to go to war.”

- Ramirez said people should be able to choose whichever type of firearm works for them “Sometimes it’s actually really nice to have one that shoots all over the place if you don’t know exactly how to shoot the target as well as you would like,” she said.

- “Whether you’re a teacher or a coach, no matter who you are, you should be able to carry,” Chase said.

These people are f’ing insane. This shows the dichotomy between blue (mostly Northern) Virginia and most of the rest of the state. You don’t have to go far (literally a few miles) west or south of NOVA to run into this kind of mindset. It’s like two completely different worlds and it’s extremely disturbing.

[RandySF]

2. +1