Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s attempt to amend House Bill 1525 is a legislative trainwreck which raises the minimum age to purchase and possess certain firearms by young adults under age 21, many of whom already own such guns, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said.
Where Gov. Spanberger’s effort could—and should—justifiably collapse is her addition of an emergency declaration at the end of her amended bill. Under the Virginia Constitution, an emergency expressed in the body of a bill requires a vote of four-fifths of the members voting in each house. Because of the vote split in both the House and Senate, Spanberger’s amended HB 1525 might not be approved.
“In her zeal to enact stricter gun controls,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “Governor Spanberger may have fatally wounded her amended legislation.”
In the governor’s news release regarding this measure, her office states that Spanberger’s amendments to HB 1525 “direct Virginia State Police to resume background checks on private sales of firearms, as well as make these bills consistent with the House Bill 217 and Senate Bill 749.”
“Governor Spanberger has already been warned by the U.S. Department of Justice against enacting legislation which would infringe on the Second Amendment rights of citizens,” Gottlieb noted. “Young adults in the 18-to-20-year age group are citizens who have reached the legal age of majority. They can vote, run for office, enlist in the military, start businesses, sign contracts, get married and start families, so pressing an amended version of legislation already passed by Virginia lawmakers by raising the minimum age to purchase certain firearms—and declaring it an emergency—is definitely not only the wrong approach, but blatant age discrimination.
“The governor is playing to her far-left fringe constituents,” Gottlieb added. “That may play well on left-wing Internet sites, but it could spark federal legal action which has already been threatened. Spanberger obviously took office with the intention of positioning herself as a champion of restrictive gun control. That strategy just might backfire.”
Clarence Thomas: Celebrate America 250 By Doing Something To Save The Country.
ht* tps://thefederalist.com/2026/04/16/clarence-thomas-celebrate-america-250-by-doing-something-to-save-the-country/
Pro-Life Advocate Wins First Amendment Victory After Being Arrested By Biden Administration.
”
…
In 2022, Catholic pro-life father Mark Houck was arrested at his home in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. Houck had been charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act after pushing away a Planned Parenthood volunteer who was harassing his 12-year-old son. Although local police and the district attorney rejected the volunteer’s attempt to bring Houck to court, and a municipal court dismissed a lawsuit against him, the Department of Justice picked up the case, threatening Houck with a maximum 11-year prison sentence. Houck agreed to turn himself in peacefully, but federal agents ignored his compliance, staging an aggressive arrest in front of his wife and seven children. In custody, Houck was chained to a table for six hours.
In January 2023 a jury in Philadelphia acquitted Houck in about an hour. A regular participant in 40 Days for Life campaigns, Houck partnered with the organization’s in-house legal team, Institute of Law and Justice, to file a lawsuit against the Department of Justice for $4.3 million.
Last year, in the middle of negotiations, U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond dismissed the case, citing probable cause and reasonable use of force by federal agents in Houck’s arrest. Houck’s legal team appealed the dismissal and waited for months for reparations.
Those reparations were finally actualized in 2026 and announced this week.
The payout ‘marks a significant rebuke of the DOJ’s conduct under the Biden administration,’ according to 40 Days for Life, and highlights significant ‘concerns about the weaponization of federal law enforcement against pro-life Americans.’
…”
ht* tps://thefederalist.com/2026/04/16/pro-life-advocate-wins-first-amendment-victory-after-being-arrested-by-biden-administration/
Boston Loves Illegal Immigrants So Much, It Uses Our Tax Dollars to Pay for Their Spa Days
“The only thing Democrats like more than spending American taxpayer money is using that money to remind American taxpayers just how much they despise them. Imagine you live in Boston, and you work 40-plus hours a week to make ends meet. You budget, you sacrifice luxury items to pay the rent and put food on your table, and you forgo things like spa treatments because you simply can’t afford it.
Meanwhile, the taxes your government takes from your paycheck go to give illegal [aliens] hundreds of dollars so they can attend yoga classes, visit the salon, and have a spa day on your dime. That’s exactly what’s happening in Boston, where LGBTQ+ illegal immigrants can get $500 for gym memberships, massages, or manicures.
…”
ht* tps://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2026/04/16/michelle-wu-boston-250-for-lgbtq-migrants-n2674558
When the people have had enough of the left wingers: BREAKING UPDATE – Boston Mayor Wu SUSPENDS gift cards for LGBTQ+ migrants over ‘safety threats’
ht* tps://thepostmillennial.com/boston-mayor-michelle-wu-hands-out-cash-to-lgbtq-migrants-for-yoga-classes-massages-creative-healing?utm_campaign=64470
Gun-Grabber Group Pres. BODIED for IGNORING That [left wing murderer] Justin Fairfax Was ALSO a Gun Grabber in Ghoulish Post.
ht* tps://twitchy.com/samj/2026/04/16/kris-brown-brady-united-justin-fairfax-n2427215
Former Lt. Governor and Giffords ‘Gun Safety Champion’ Kills [murders] Wife, Self in Northern Virginia
ht* tps://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/04/16/former-lt-governor-and-giffords-gun-safety-champion-kills-wife-self-in-northern-virginia-n1232245
Ohio Senate Gives Thumbs Up to Preemption Law, Middle Finger to Anti-Gun Mayors.
ht* tps://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/04/16/ohio-senate-gives-thumbs-up-to-preemption-law-middle-finger-to-anti-gun-mayors-n1232246
How California Bill Targeting Nick Shirley’s Investigations May Bite Second Amendment.
ht* tps://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2026/04/16/how-california-bill-targeting-nick-shirleys-investigations-may-bite-second-amendment-n1232244
Two More 2A Cases Make Their Supreme Court Conference Debut Tomorrow [today, 17 Apr 2026]
ht* tps://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/04/16/two-more-2a-cases-make-their-supreme-court-conference-debut-tomorrow-n1232251
Study – 90% of Social Science Research Leans Left.
ht* tps://hotair.com/john-s-2/2026/04/16/study-90-of-social-science-research-leans-left-n3813977
[note: ‘Social Science’ is not really a ‘science’ per se’ as its based upon mostly a combination of ‘opinion’ and bias and ‘guided approach’ conclusions designed to support the original hypothesis and subjective interpretation of data.]
Democrats always find a way to enrich their selves either directly or indirectly with your tax dollars: Spanberger awards $5 MILLION to husband’s firm for Virginia Advanced Propulsion Facilities project.
ht* tps://thepostmillennial.com/spanberger-awards-5-million-to-husbands-firm-for-virginia-advanced-propulsion-facilities-project?utm_campaign=64470
Massie Tells Senate the Second Amendment Exists to Thwart Tyranny.
“Testifying before the United States Senate, Representative Thomas Massie did not hedge, soften, or apologize for the plain meaning of the right to keep and bear arms. He said, ‘The simple and direct language of our Constitution is clear. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. There are no qualifiers on who may keep arms, what types of arms they may keep, or for what purposes.’
He also cut through one of the oldest anti-gun talking points in the book, saying, ‘It certainly doesn’t say that the right to bear arms is about trivial matters like deer hunting or skeet shooting.’ Exactly right.
What made Massie’s testimony important was not just that he defended the Second Amendment, but that he defended it in the way the Founders understood it. As Massie told senators, ‘The Second Amendment exists for one clear reason: defense. For the defense of one’s home, one’s family, and one’s community, for the defense of liberty and safety, not only from a lone assailant, but from the whole of tyrannical government.’
That is not extreme rhetoric. That is the core American understanding of why an armed citizenry matters.
The generation that wrote the Constitution had lived through a government attempt to seize arms and powder from the people. Before Lexington and Concord became part of our national memory, British authorities were already moving against colonial military stores. The men who framed the Second Amendment knew very well that disarmament was not some neutral administrative act. They understood it as a tool of domination.
Massie captured that point when he warned, “Our founders understood the greatest risks to liberty are not always found outside a nation’s borders… but oftentimes from within, when a corrupt and dangerous few grow too ambitious and attempt to subjugate the masses.”
That is the part advocates of gun control never want to discuss. They do not want to talk about what happens when the government itself becomes the danger.
Massie underscored that by invoking George Mason’s famous warning that disarming the people is the surest path to enslavement. Whether the threat comes from a criminal predator, a violent mob, or a tyrannical government, the underlying principle is the same: a population stripped of the means of defense is easier to control.
Rep. Massie did not stop at principles. He used the hearing to connect the constitutional argument to specific federal policy fights that matter right now. That is what makes his testimony more than a good speech. He put actual legislative priorities on the table.
One of the biggest was the National Constitutional Carry Act.
…”
ht* tps://www.ammoland.com/2026/04/massie-tells-senate-the-second-amendment-exists-to-thwart-tyranny/
BREAKING: The Strait of Hormuz Is Open.
“The Strait of Hormuz is fully reopened, President Donald Trump announced on Friday morning [Friday, 17 Apr 2026].
His Truth Social post was in all caps. ‘THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE, BUT THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE,’ the president wrote.
He added, ‘THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!’
…”
ht* tps://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/04/17/strait-of-hormuz-is-open-n4951890
Greg Dolezal’s Blunt Warning About Sharia Law Is Turning Heads in Georgia.
”
…
In an interview with Atlanta News First, Dolezal emphasized the threat that we’re seeing from radical Islam and Sharia law. He pointed out how pockets of Muslims in certain areas are circumventing the American legal system for Sharia justice:
‘We are certainly seeing the attempts to adjudicate cases in what they call these tribunals. So outside of Dallas, Texas, there’s an Islamic tribunal that exists today, and they have this quasi-constitution and a framework that basically gets agreement that they’re going to adjudicate these family law cases and business law cases by Sharia law. Sharia law at scale does not comport with the United States Constitution, and we cannot allow parallel legal systems to exist where we have cases being adjudicated by Sharia law that may violate the United States Constitution, and I’m not going to apologize for taking a bold stand on that. If you look at what has happened in areas like Plano, Texas, and Dearborn, Michigan, you have people adopting policies and world views that do not comport with the United States Constitution. I believe that we are stronger when we unite under the founding principles of this country, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, separation of church — or mosque — and state, if you will, where you don’t try to kind of merge everything together. You mentioned other countries where you see this caliphate set up, and if you want to go live under a Muslim caliphate, then you can do that in another country, but you don’t need to do that here in America.’
…”
ht* tps://pjmedia.com/chris-queen/2026/04/17/greg-dolezals-blunt-warning-about-sharia-law-is-turning-heads-in-georgia-n4951821
Biden’s Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal Is About to Get a Full Reckoning, Sean Parnell Reveals.
ht* tps://redstate.com/terichristoph/2026/04/17/parnell-statement-on-afghan-withdrawal-review-panel-n2201387