… Not all that long ago, the idea that laws to restrict gun rights would not only pass the Virginia legislature, but would be broadly popular in the Commonwealth, was unthinkable. … The conventional wisdom back in the early part of the 2000s was that a Democrat could only get so far by running up the score in the more moderate suburbs of DC. That meant they had to appease the more rural areas of the state with an agenda that steered clear of talk of gun restrictions. What changed? In a nutshell, the suburbs. CONT.
Amy Walter, Cook Political Report