Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is not shy about supporting the Second Amendment. One of her campaign posters showed her cradling a semi-automatic rifle at a Virginia gun range.
Beautiful day ☀️ = Range day!
Marines know how to use guns and I won’t ever support a red flag law! The 2nd Amendment says “shall not be infringed!” #SemperFi
Always good to see my friends at Clark Brothers Guns. pic.twitter.com/nNXq4SjazT
— Lt. Governor of Virginia – Winsome Earle-Sears (@WinsomeSears) April 15, 2021
On Tuesday, the graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School in Richmond, Va., was interrupted when a teenage gunman opened fire, killing another teen and his stepfather while wounding seven others. The shooter and his victim apparently had some history between them.
“This should not be happening anywhere,” Mayor Levar Stoney (D) told reporters less than two hours after the first shots were heard. “A child should be able to go to their graduation and walk out their graduation and enjoy the accomplishment with their friends and their families.”
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras, still dressed in a black gown for the graduation, used the moment to call for an end to gun violence in the city. “I’m just tired of seeing people get shot, our kids get shot, and I beg of the entire community to stop. To just stop.”
But Earle-Sears had another take.
“I was told to stay away but the people that I represent are not safe. They’re not safe in this city, and we have to figure out why that is. This is not about law-abiding gun owners. This is about gangs,” Earle-Sears said. “This is about even if you took all the guns off the street from the law-abiding citizens, the others who mean harm, who mean to kill and mayhem, they’re going to have the guns.”
Democrats immediately jumped on the “gangs” remark and focused on the wrong issue — guns. A Virginia senator referred to Earle-Sears’s remarks as “self-righteous outrage.”
Where is this self righteous outrage coming from with the LG in the aftermath of the shooting in Monroe Park? Did she not campaign with an assault rifle? Did she not attend NRA meeting immediately in aftermath of Uvalde? Gun violence is caused by guns
— Mamie Locke (@SenatorLocke) June 6, 2023
“When there are mass shootings in other communities, there are thoughts and prayers and talks about mental health,” House Minority Leader Don L. Scott Jr. said in a Wednesday phone interview. “But when it’s an urban community, the first thing she does is start talking about gangs and criminals.”
Um, yes. And your point?
Related: Winsome Sears Gives ‘Real Time’ Some Real Talk About Parenting and Gender
In a phone interview, Earle-Sears told WRIC that her remarks were not political but a call to action. In fact, her comment about gangs was generalized.
“So, when did life, I would ask them [Democrats], become so flippant? Why isn’t life precious? And how could they have reduced this to a Democrat-Republican issue? That’s not what this is about. Is it only that that they care about? Is everything political for them? So, I would say to them we need to get to the problem,” Earle-Sears said Wednesday. “We need to find out why our children are shooting each other. Why this continues to happen?”
In another statement, Earle-Sears was even more direct.
We grieve for the victims and the families who lost loved ones tonight. I'm also ANGRY. I'm angry that families attending a graduation celebration can't do so safely. When do we say Enough is enough and lock up the criminals responsible for terrorizing our communities? pic.twitter.com/4NrAZVE53u
— Lt. Governor of Virginia – Winsome Earle-Sears (@WinsomeSears) June 7, 2023
“Lock up the criminals responsible” — it’s almost revolutionary to say that in 2023.
Earle-Sears released a statement in which she said her “heart breaks for the senseless and cowardly act of violence last night that took the lives of a graduate and his father just moments after walking across the stage to accept his high school diploma.”
In her statement, Earle-Sears added that there have 33 homicides in Richmond in 2023 and that “Gang activity and other crimes have run virtually unchecked by a system that too often puts the desires of criminals over the rights of law-abiding families.”
This woman is going places in politics. She has no fear and has a clear-eyed view of the issues. She’s a Marine veteran and a mother.
What’s not to like?
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