Now, as gun rights activists descend on Richmond in hopes of dissuading lawmakers from restricting gun rights in the state, they’ll have some unexpected allies.

It seems Antifa is joining the fight.

Instead, local antifa will join thousands of conservatives who are expected to descend on Richmond that day in protesting pending gun-control legislation introduced by Democratic lawmakers.

Antifa Seven Hills, based in Richmond, are opposing the slew of gun bills introduced by the newly Democratic Legislature since November, because they say those types of laws are used primarily to criminalize poor people, minorities, and leftists — and to bolster law enforcement’s power.

“I think it’s been pretty important for us to focus on the fact that gun control in America has a legacy of racist enforcement,” said Antifa Seven Hills spokesperson James (who asked that his name be withheld to avoid getting doxxed online). “Like taking guns away from black people, because black people were perceived as a threat to property and the sanctity of the state.”

…

“This is our fight as much as anyone else’s,” James, who identifies as an anarchist, added. “It’s our state, and we are left largely out of the debate. The presence of an armed left is not discussed, it’s not understood.”

In fairness, they’re kind of easy to forget about.

The existence of an armed left is generally not discussed or understood because there are relatively few of them. The idea of Antifa being armed isn’t surprising, either.

And, frankly, James there isn’t entirely wrong about racism and gun control, though he’s spending more time projecting it forward rather than looking at its history. After all, the roots of gun control are in racism. It was about keeping blacks disarmed and making it far more difficult for them to defend themselves against racist whites.

However, is Antifa a group we want to ally ourselves with in this fight?

I’ve been extremely critical of Antifa since they started stirring up stuff at Berkley several years ago. To me, they represent the real threat to this country and are everything anti-gunners accuse pro-gunners of being. They’re quick to resort to violence to solve political disagreements and aren’t willing to actually sit down and discuss anything.

The thing is, if they haven’t been arrested and convicted of a felony, they have as much right to keep and bear arms as I have. That means in order to defend my own right to have a gun, I have to defend their right to have guns. That is, unless I want to devolve into complete hypocrisy.

I don’t.

So when our brothers and sisters in Virginia converge in Richmond, Antifa will be standing beside them apparently. I want to tell you to embrace them, but I don’t know that I can.

I will say, though, that we should welcome them. It’s a good time to show them that we’re not the strawmen they’ve built up in their heads and, by extension, potentially disarm them in a very different way than our mutual opposition in Richmond plans to.

Who knows. the unintended consequences of Northam’s efforts may be the complete dissolution of Antifa.

I’m not holding my breath, mind you, but stranger things have happened.