Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is still pushing his gun control plan, despite a recent setback to his agenda.

It seems that while it’s perfectly acceptable for him to push his anti-gun agenda under the idea that people elected him to do just that, it’s somehow wrong for Republican lawmakers to oppose him on just those same grounds.

It’s enough of a problem for Northam that he’s threatening those lawmakers.

Governor Northam addressed the crowd and said if stories like Clark’s do not result in changes to Virginia gun laws, something else needs to change.

“This past year, 1,028 of our fellow Virginians lost their lives [to gun violence],” Northam said. “If we can’t change people’s minds, we need to change their seats.”

Gun control is likely to play a major role in the 2019 elections, both sides said Monday. Every seat in the Virginia General Assembly will be up for grabs in November.

Now, yes, this is a threat to use the elective process to remove those people from office rather than something out of a mob movie, but let’s also be honest here. Does Northam think anyone believes the Democrats won’t be trying to remove the same people from office next election regardless of where they came down on this issue?

He can’t. He can’t possibly be that stupid. Not if he’s capable of remembering to breathe without someone reminding him to do so.

But, then again, he did make that comment to the public, so apparently, he is.

Republican lawmakers in Virginia understand that their status in the state has changed. That doesn’t mean they’re going to abandon the principles they were elected to uphold just because Northam wants them to. They voted against his measures based on those principles, after all. Changing now would doom their reelection chances far worse than Northam’s ire ever could.

After all, if they’ll compromise on guns, they’ll compromise on anything.

The Old Dominion state is shaping up to be an interesting battle to watch. It’ll be interesting to see how well Northam’s anti-gun push is playing. After all, he got elected while standing for gun control but ran against an opponent who was about as exciting to my Virginia friends as dry toast. Are the people of Virginia embracing gun control or were they voting against the Republicans this time around for other reasons?

While Northam’s push continues, it’s imperative that gun rights supporters continue to fight back. It’s clear that Northam thinks he’s doing God’s work here, and it’s also tempting for GOP legislators to want to go along a little so they can pass other measures later. They need you to remind them that doing so is not a good idea.

Further, remind the Democrats that just because they have a “D” after their name, that’s no reason to ignore the wishes of their constituents and support Northam’s radical anti-gun agenda.

This battle is far from over, but it may be a very important battleground to watch as the nation moves forward.