VCDL Lobby Day Caravan

[BrotherPilot]

Received from VCDL today, as I suspect a number of you did.  But posting it here to boost the signal.  More to follow on some logistics for any border raiders (and you are MOST welcome!) who care to join the caravans.
Lobby day 2021 is January 18th.

First, the link to the routes and some general information:
https://vcdl.org/LD2021Routes/

From the email:
The initial maps of the caravan routes and the caravan times are now ready!

The initial Lobby Day map showing the various caravan starting points, starting times, waypoints, and times the caravans will be passing by the waypoints and arriving in Richmond is now available here.  That link can also be found on the vcdl.org website's main page.

Exact locations will provided in a future update.  For now we are only providing the general locations.


The Caravans

There will be four main-caravans headed to Richmond:  Emporia, Fairfax County, Hampton, and Staunton, each led by a "decked-out" bus.  There will be nine sub-caravans that will merge with the main-caravans: Bristol, Burgess, Chesapeake, Dahlgren, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Virginia Beach, Wattsville and Winchester.

There are twenty-seven waypoints: Appomattox, Ashland, Callao, Charlottesville, Christiansburg, Crewe, Danville, Disputanta, Eastville, Farmville, Fredericksburg, Heathsville, Mount Crawford, Norfolk, Petersburg, Roanoke, South Boston, Springfield, Stoney Creek, Suffolk, Tappahannock, Wakefield, Warsaw, Waverly, Williamsburg, Windsor, and Wytheville.

Once a caravan has left the starting point, it will not stop at the various waypoints on its way to Richmond.  The waypoints will be used as a place where gun owners gather as they wait for a caravan to pass.  Those at the waypoints will then merge with the passing caravan on the main highway.

The main caravans will be arriving in Richmond over a staggered four-hour period from 12 noon to 4 pm.  The timing is also configured in such a way that no one should have to get up at O'Dark 30.  The earliest sub-caravan (Wattsville) and the earliest main-caravan (Fairfax) both start  at 8:50 AM.  The latest sub-caravan (Winchester) starts at 11:35 AM and the latest main-caravan (Emporia) starts at 12:30 PM.


Do I have to merge with a caravan at one of the specified waypoints?

Absolutely not!  If there is a convenient location closer to you where a caravan is going to pass, then wait there.  For example, there are plenty of other places to wait for the Staunton caravan on I64.


How will I know where the caravan I want to join is currently located?

VCDL is working on a way where the location of all the caravans can be viewed in realtime on your smartphone, pad, or computer.  Watch for more information on this later.

We will also be live streaming status information on the caravans and a host of great guest-speakers that you can listen to while you are driving in the caravan.  Details on this will come later.


Will there be a way to communicate with others in my caravan or for caravans to communicate with each other?

Yes.  VCDL will explain how that will be done in a later alert.


Can I walk around downtown Richmond armed?  Other pertinent laws?

If you wish to visit downtown Richmond, it is legal to carry a firearm for self-defense.  If you don't have a CHP, then don't have a magazine in your firearm that will hold MORE than 20 rounds.  Long guns should not be loaded while driving in a vehicle with or without CHP.  Richmond parks and government buildings are off limits if posted.  A person refusing to leave such an area when told to do so, could be charged with either a violation of the local gun-control ordinance or trespass.


Flags, magnets, signs, etc.

VCDL is ordering vehicle flags (GSL and the VCDL logo), as well as GSL and VCDL logo magnets.  The more you "deck out" your vehicle, the better!  We want those watching the long stream of vehicles go by to know that those vehicles are part of a massive caravan on a mission to protect the right to keep and bear arms.  How to get those flags and magnets will be explained in a future alert.  You can also make your own signs for your vehicle and/or to carry if you go walking in Richmond.  Your signs should stick to the common theme:  gun rights.


We need you to be a part of Lobby Day!

This year's Lobby Day is going to be critical in helping protect our gun rights from the anti-gun extremist Democrats currently in control.   They will once again try to ban semi-automatic rifles, restrict magazine size, ban suppressors, reduce reciprocity with other states, make CHPs harder to get, prohibit open carry, make CHPs harder to get, and much, much more.  To avoid VCDL having another massive Lobby Day, the Governor and his minions have tried to stop Lobby Day altogether through dirty tricks. 

We can't, and won't, let them silence us!

But numbers matter and Lobby Day needs to produce another year of eye-popping attendance! 

Gun owners are not only coming from across Virginia, but across the country to attend Lobby Day!  If everyone carries their own water and doesn't look for excuses to stay home and do nothing, we will have another record-breaking Lobby Day in 2021! 


We can change the course of Virginia politics

Remember that the Virginia House, Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General positions are all up for grabs on November 2, 2021! 

In January we fight off gun-control and push pro-gun bills for passage.  In November we vote to turn this ship around.

[BrotherPilot]

VCDL Lobby Day January 18, 2021 - Stand With Us Against the Tyranny of Gun Control!

Go visit the VCDL Lobby Day webpage for the latest:
https://vcdl.org/VCDL-Lobby-Day-2021/

From their latest email update:
VCDL statement on Lobby Day 2021, January 18

Some have wondered if Lobby Day would be canceled or changed due to the events at the U.S. Capitol back on January 6.  The answer is no.  Lobby Day is on track for this Monday, January 18.  Lobby Day in 2021 is like all our other previous Lobby Days - we are peacefully lobbying to protect our rights, we are not protesting anything.  There are times and places for protests, but Lobby Day is not one of them.

We cannot cancel our events every time the rumor mill starts talking about possible problems caused by provocateurs.  If we did, we would have no more events and no voice in the fight to protect the right to keep and bear arms.  Gun grabbers would make sure there would always be some "threat" to shut down our events. 

Right on queue there are reports (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-internal-memo-warns-of-plans-for-armed-protests-in-all-50-state-capitals-ahead-of-biden-inauguration) that all 50 states could have armed protesters over the election, with some potentially creating violence (https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/warning-not-attend-armed-protests-state-capitols-inauguration-possible-sinister-plot-hatched-radical-left-take-away-gun-rights/) at their capitols.  Luckily for us, we aren't protesting, the Capitol is closed anyway, and we are just driving through.

I'm sure you remember all the threats that were supposedly going to happen at last year's Lobby Day.  We were told by various sources that Antifa, white supremacists, the government, and anarchists, were all planning to disrupt the event with violence.  We were told by various pundits that we were being put into a cage to be slaughtered, like buffalos herded to a cliff.  The Governor declared a state of emergency, banned guns on Capitol Square, caged in the Capitol Square and required screening of all individuals entering the cage, brought in loads of police from across the state, and even had a "no fly zone" over Richmond.  Many called for VCDL to cancel that Lobby Day due to the potential for violence. 

We didn't cancel.  Gun owners showed up in huge numbers - over 50,000 attended.  Lobby Day went off without a hitch, with so many telling me that was one of the best events they had ever been to.  The patriotism and camaraderie that day was wonderful and the magnitude of the event shook up the General Assembly and helped VCDL kill most of the gun-control bills, including bans on semi-automatic rifles.  The gun-control bills that passed were greatly watered down.

Could something potentially happen?  Sure.  That's always true.  But liberty and freedom are worth the risk.  There should be plenty of police to deal with anyone committing an act of violence. 

Here are some key points about Lobby Day 2021:

• VCDL is peacefully lobbying the General Assembly to protect our gun rights.  We are not protesting anything that day.
• Vehicles should be clearly marked in support of our gun rights.  Awards going to best decked-out vehicles.
• VCDL has a hotline to the Virginia State Police, Richmond Police, and Capitol Police, should we need to contact each other, just like in the past.  VCDL has a great working relationship with law enforcement and we expect they will be every bit as professional this year as they were last year.
• VCDL will have a command center to help coordinate the caravans, live stream speakers and information to your smart phones, and provide electronic maps showing the current location of the caravans so that you can merge in as they pass your location.
• FRS, GMRS, and HAM radio frequencies will be announced for communication between vehicles in the caravans.  HAMs will be helping us to automatically track the sub-caravans, too.  (HUGE response from HAMs when the call went out for help with Lobby Day!)
• If you have a dash cam, leave it on to document the trip.
• Be a citizen journalist.  When Lobby Day is over send us your best photos and/or videos.  We will use some of them to create an electronic photo-album on Lobby Day 2021.
• While we encourage everyone to stay in the caravan, if you decide to walk around Richmond:  1) don't block sidewalks or streets and 2)  If you see anything untoward going on, get out of the area.  Best not to go to any events in the area on Sunday, either.
• Green Top has run out of flags and other items and they were stocked, and restocked, heavily!  They will be restocked again later today, thanks to Tom Gee, who is driving the items down from Fredericksburg to Ashland.  Green Top will now have magnets and stickers, as well as more signs and flags.  Be sure to get your Lobby Day items for your vehicle soon - there are stores across the state that are distributing them.  Locations and information is here.
• New VCDL ad:  https://youtu.be/HvzFTsMs2O4