by First off a disclaimer. I was not at the VCDL Lobby Day in Richmond on Monday. I was in Las Vegas at Industry Day at the Range. Secondly, I am not an expert on crowd estimation.
Numerous media reports have said the attendance at Lobby Day was 22,000. They break it down to 7,000 within the fence and the remainder outside.
I spoke to both friends of mine that attended and Stephen Gutowski of the Free Beacon who have described the size of the crowd. On that estimate of 22,000, I am raising the BS flag.
Gutowski described to me some of the crowds in the side streets. One street was filled sidewalk to sidewalk for three blocks deep. Another 2-3 side streets had were packed similarly 1-2 blocks deep.
Officials in the Northam administration and their allies in the media would like you to believe the crowd really wasn’t as big as it actually was. If you throw out an exact number like 22,000, it sounds authoritative and the gullible media will go with it.
This is the converse of when the Demanding Moms and other gun control groups have events. There they stage photos to make the crowd look larger than it really is. The prime example is the NRA Annual Meeting that was held a few years ago in Nashville. The late Bob Owens called them out on it. They said 500 attended which the media reported and Bob showed how they staged the photo which actually had about 150 people in it.
I think when all is said and done, the crowd of gun rights supporters attending Lobby Day on Monday probably was double the official figure and approached 50,000. Whether Democrat legislators in Virginia will take notice and temper their plans is the real question.
Somehow I doubt it.
Good point, and we’ll never know the exact number. Suffice to say, it SHOULD get their attention…
It obviously didn’t get anyones attention as the legislature seems to have passes more anti gun legislation today. Question: In this day of drones and the like, why can’t we get Ariel photography?
I was there, and based on my observations, I’d say that the 22K estimate is probably close. 30K, tops. Take the best photo of any area, grid it, count 100 people, then move on to the next grid. But remember, a LOT of the attendees were, just like me, wandering around. Large groups were actually going street by street to display their flags, banners and signs, so many people will show up in many different photos.
That should have said “many of the same people will show up in many different photos.”