If 20,000+ people show up to tell you what they think, that’s usually a sign you should probably at least consider listening. That’s especially true when they’re calling for you to respect their rights.

That’s about how many people showed up in Richmond, a powerful reminder that Virginians aren’t united behind this anti-gun nonsense.

However, despite the massive numbers that showed up, Democrats in the state have vowed to basically ignore them.

But Democratic lawmakers — including House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw — told AP the rally wouldn’t impact their plans to pass gun-control measures, including universal background checks and a one-handgun-purchase-a-month limit. Democrats say tightening Virginia’s gun laws will make communities safer and help prevent mass shootings like the one last year in Virginia Beach, where a dozen people were killed in a municipal building.

…

“I was prepared to see a whole lot more people show up than actually did and I think it’s an indication that a lot of this rhetoric is bluster, quite frankly,” said Del. Chris Hurst, a gun-control advocate whose TV journalist girlfriend was killed in an on-air shooting in 2015.

He expected to see more than 20,000 people?

Oh, I doubt that.

What these Democrats are saying is that they don’t actually care about your voice, about your rights. They’re going to trample on them and they really don’t care what you have to say about it.

Luckily, the way Virginia’s elections laws are currently structured puts the House of Delegates up for reelection in 2021. That will be a critical election as it’ll also be a gubernatorial election.

In other words, all it takes is holding ground for a year or two and we can then undo all of this.

However, Democrats are also trying to change a number of laws regarding elections in the state, including extending the governor’s term and eliminating gubernatorial term limits. Those are likely to be hard sells, even with a complete majority by Democrats. Changes like that aren’t likely to play well in the immediate aftermath of a takeover and some lawmakers will likely be hesitant to go down that road.

That means in 2021, Virginia may begin the process of returning to sanity.

If that happens, Democrats will only have themselves to blame. Most of the counties in the state have made their intentions to ignore gun control legislation quite clear, 20,000 Virginians showed up to make their voices heard, and people are sending every signal they can to lawmakers not to infringe on their constitutionally-protected rights. If Democrat continue pushing this, what happens next will be on them.

For gun rights supporters, though, it means it’s time to dig in and get ready for 2021. Organize, rally, and educate. Make sure people understand that gun rights are human rights, that gun control doesn’t work anyway, and it’s time to stop pretending that guns are the problem when the real solutions are still out there.

Do that over the next couple of years and watch the process of flipping back red begin.