Dueling gun rallies //
Kaaleah Jones, front left, whose father was shot and killed in Newport News, gets a hug after speaking at a vigil and rally Monday in Capitol Square urging tougher state laws to curb gun violence.
Gov. Ralph S. Northam, seen at right among the crowd, also spoke at the rally sponsored by the Virginia Center for Public Safety. Many state lawmakers attended the afternoon event that called for universal background checks before all gun purchases.
Gov. Northam and others pledged to continue their support for such laws despite the fact that measure and 19 other gun control proposals were killed just hours earlier by a Senate committee.
Earlier on Monday, Congressman Dave Brat and fellow Republican state lawmakers attended a rally at the Bell Tower in support of gun rights and their expansion. That rally was sponsored by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a pro-gun rights group that describes itself as “more radical than the National Rifle Association.”
