Virginia state Sen. Jill Vogel (R) thinks Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) special session to address gun violence is a good opportunity to hand out her yard signs.
On Tuesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) called for a special session with the Virginia legislature to address gun control in response to the Virginia Beach shooting on Friday that left 12 people dead.
The National Rifle Association accused Northam of “exploiting a tragedy,” but pro-gun Vogel apparently sees a “silver lining.”
“Talk about getting people in my district engaged,” the Republican lawmaker said on Wednesday during a radio interview on the John Fredericks Show. “In fact, just right before I got on with you, a lady sent me a note and said, ‘Thank you so much for, you know, sticking by your position and not wavering on our Second Amendment rights, and please can I get a yard sign?'”
Then Vogel laughed: “So there is a silver lining to the governor calling a special session.”
“But I will tell you, I think it’s actually quite sad,” she continued. “This is a tragedy, I mean an absolute tragedy in Virginia Beach, and I think our focus should be on supporting that community and sharing in their anguish and their grief and not some political knee-jerk response.”
A staffer from the liberal opposition research group American Bridge first flagged Vogel’s comments to TPM.
Vogel’s office did not respond to TPM’s request for comment.
Watch Vogel’s interview below (her comments on the special session begin at around the 2:00 timestamp)
