Gun, states-rights rally draws 1,000 to Capitol Square

Toting signs like "Join the party, take America back," and "Re-legalize the U.S. Constitution," about 1,000 people rallied at the state Capitol yesterday morning. Drawn by various groups, the crowd heard from several Republican lawmakers and a man impersonating Patrick Henry before filing into the General Assembly Building to lobby legislators on two bills in particular. House Bill 10 would protect a person's right to decline to participate in a health-care plan, and House Bill 69 says firearms and ammunition made in Virginia and retained here are not subject to federal regulation under the authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. "I support freedom," said Harry Holt, a Midlothian resident who was handing out stickers at the rally. "I think the federal government is overreaching their power too quickly and too pervasively."...read more