Demonstrators stand outside a security zone in Richmond, Va., On Monday. Thousands of activists and gun enthusiasts converged on the city to urge the state not to pass new gun laws. Tyrone Turner / WAMU hide caption
Tyrone Turner / WAMU
Demonstrators stand outside a security zone in Richmond, Va., On Monday. Thousands of activists and gun enthusiasts converged on the city to urge the state not to pass new gun laws.
Tyrone Turner / WAMU
Updated at : am ET 
The city of Richmond, Va., Is under a state of emergency Monday morning as thousands of gun ownership enthusiasts and armed militia members gather at the Virginia State Capitol for a large rally aimed at quashing new gun laws. Gov. Ralph Northam has temporarily banned firearms from Capitol grounds, and some of Richmond’s streets are barricaded as officials try to ensure the demonstration takes place peacefully.
The Richmond gun rally is expected to draw a wide range of people, from staunch believers that the Second Amendment guarantees wide access to guns to religious leaders calling for peace.
“This is about losing one of the base freedoms that we have. Without it, all the others fall right behind it, “gun rights supporter Todd McManus of Shepherdstown, W.Va., told member station VPM’s Ben Paviour.
The rally includes a slate of speeches that started at 17 am, for those gathered on the lawn below the white-columned Capitol. The speakers include an official from Gun Owners of America, along with state politicians. Two law enforcement officials also spoke.
“At least two county sheriffs have spoken at this gun rights rally in Richmond,” NPR’s Sarah McCammon reports via Twitter . She adds that Sheriff Scott Jenkins of Culpeper County “says he will deputize ‘thousands’ of gun owners” if Virginia enacts new gun restrictions.
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While people were blocked from carrying weapons within a rectangle-shaped vicinity of the Capitol, many rally attendees walked with their guns in plain sight on Richmond’s nearby streets.
Some people wore camouflage and helmets, while a few dressed in Revolutionary War costumes. Others wore jeans or suits, but with rifles slung across their chests. And many people simply bundled up against the cold – it was several degrees below freezing in Richmond early Monday. In the streets near the Capitol, there were chants against Virginia’s Democratic governor as well as shouts of “USA! USA!”
Rally attendees walked with their firearms in plain sight on streets around the state Capitol in Richmond, even though event organizers asked supporters to show up unarmed. Tyrone Turner / WAMU hide caption
Tyrone Turner / WAMU
Rally attendees walked with their firearms in plain sight on streets around the state Capitol in Richmond, even though event organizers asked supporters to show up unarmed.
Tyrone Turner / WAMU
Faith leaders are holding a prayer vigil for peace near the Capitol to invoke a spirit of fellowship on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
“We wanted to provide a counter-witness to potential strife, and certainly some of the conflicted relationship that’s going to be seen today,” Rev. Drew Willson tells VPM’s Roberto Roldan.
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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has temporarily banned firearms from Capitol grounds, and some of Richmond’s streets are barricaded as officials try to ensure the demonstration takes place peacefully. Tyrone Turner / WAMU hide caption
Tyrone Turner / WAMU
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has temporarily banned firearms from Capitol grounds, and some of Richmond’s streets are barricaded as officials try to ensure the demonstration takes place peacefully.
Tyrone Turner / WAMU
Right-wing media outlets were also a notable presence. Breitbart produced a livestream of video from the event, and InfoWars’ Alex Jones rode parade-style in a Terradyne armored vehicle, popping out of the top hatch to address the crowd through a microphone.
Vendors also descended on the city, setting up tables and portable racks to sell pro-Trump T-shirts and pro-gun paraphernalia.
The gun rights event, held on a holiday that honors a civil rights leader who himself became a victim of gun violence, has generated anxiety that it could draw white supremacists and violent extremists.
When Northam declared an emergency, he noted the possibility that some attendees might try to use the rally as an excuse to launch “insurrection” and violent attacks. A large counter-protest was called off, with several leaders saying the chance of violence was too high.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies made high-profile arrests of suspected members of 
neo-Nazi group The Base
in three states last week, including one group that allegedly had built a functioning assault rifle . Law enforcement officials told NPR that some of those members had discussed attending the gun rally in Richmond.
The Richmond rally is part of Lobby Day, a push against gun control laws that the Virginia Citizens Defense League organizes annually. But this year event gained new importance after a wave of Democrats took control of the state’s legislature – and promised to make gun control a priority. Lawmakers opened their legislative session on Jan. 8 and were in session Monday.
“Virginia Democrats are following through with an election-year pledge to pass new gun laws following a mass shooting in Virginia Beach last spring,” Whittney Evans of VPM reports from Richmond. “This has prompted a groundswell of grassroots activism from gun owners who say their constitutional rights are under attack.”
Speakers at the Lobby Day event include Stephen Willeford
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