By Staff Reports

The headlines understandably foreshadowed violence. And yet gun rights advocates surprised everyone by not shooting anyone during Monday’s second amendment rally in Richmond, Va.

According to local D.C. channel WUSA-9, Jan. 20 is known as "Lobby Day" in Richmond. , “But with (Gov. Ralph) Northam and a Democratic majority set to roll out tighter gun-safety legislation, those in favor of gun rights turned out around the Virginia Capitol to press their case against it.”

According to the same channel, inside the capitol gates gathered a crowd of about 6,000. In that area, Gov. Northam and the legislature had banned weapons. But outside the gates, about 16,000 people gathered toting their firearms. And only one arrest was made, a felony charge of a woman wearing a mask. Felony? When was that law passed?

According to our correspondent Jim Scarlett, the feeling was peaceful — and electric.

“The energy was electric, positive and very upbeat,” he reported.

Although some news outlets tried to forecast the event as a white nationalist rally, or having the potential to be another “Unite the Right” as occurred in Charlottesville (that fateful day in August 2017), it appears that this time Antifa activists stayed away, and the presence of not just a few African-American gun rights activists dispelled the divisive prediction.

See Scarlett’s photos here, and video below.