Everytown For Gun Safety sees the state of Virginia in play. That’s why they’re dedicating a pile of money to support anti-gun Democrats to top positions in the state in an effort to counter efforts by the National Rifle Association there.

Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, the campaign arm of one of the nation’s biggest gun control groups, announced Thursday that it would spend at least $1 million in Virginia as part of an “initial investment” to elect Democrats in November.

The fund is donating $450,000 directly to gubernatorial contender Ralph Northam, and spending $250,000 on mailers on his behalf. It’s also giving $300,000 to Attorney General Mark Herring for his re-election bid, as he faces attack advertising from the National Rifle Association.

“We are making this initial investment because Ralph Northam and Mark Herring have been forceful champions for gun violence prevention in Virginia, while their opponents subscribe to a dangerous ‘guns everywhere’ agenda,” Brynne Craig, a senior strategist for Everytown, said in a statement.

Everytown, a New York-based advocacy group largely bankrolled by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been a big spender in recent Virginia contests.

Of course, Everytown has figured Virginia was in play before, spending twice as much in a bid to help Democrats gain control of the state house. That bid ultimately failed, which is kind of hilarious.

Northam is a proponent of a state-level assault weapon ban, the very same kind of law the Supreme Court is being urged to take up from nearby Maryland. One that based on the Heller decision is bound to find assault weapon bans unconstitutional too. However, Northam’s desire to restrict the law abiding citizen’s access to modern sporting rifles that are ideal in numerous self-defense situations is indicative of his deeper desire to restrict the access of other firearms as well.

Despite its anti-gun violence rhetoric, Everytown is not remotely interested in removing violence from the streets of American communities. If they were, they wouldn’t maintain such a single-minded devotion to removing the firearm from the hands of private citizens. If they actually cared about combating violence in any way, they’d be working to combat the roots of violence in American cities. The Associated Press recently touched on what some of these appear to be, yet Everytown shows no indication of a desire to actually fight violence.

All they’re interested in is the gun.

I’d give them the benefit of the doubt if they were looking at the roots of violence and trying to enact gun control. They’d be misguided regarding firearms, but at least I could believe it was from a sincere desire to make communities safer.

Instead, we get Everytown looking to take our guns while nothing happens to the underlying causes of violence, which means the biggest, strongest, and meanest will have an even easier time preying on those who are weaker than them. Violence will still be a part of their culture and their communities, but even if you could disarm everyone–which we all know will never happen–it won’t stop the violence. It won’t stop murder, rape, or theft.

Does Everytown realize that? Do they care that while they support candidates who will take away citizens’ Second Amendment rights, they’re also empowering criminals to hurt the innocent even easier?

It’s hard to believe that they don’t, at this point.