Conservative radio host Mark Levin said Democratic legislative overreach could drive residents out of Virginia.
"What's going to happen is the productive people in Virginia will begin to leave. A lot of people who believe in liberty will leave," Levin said during his radio show Friday night. "So you'll see depopulation, voluntary depopulation, like you see in New York, New Jersey, California, Illinois, on and on, where people are looking for liberty."
Virginia Democrats won a majority in both houses of the state's legislature and are aiming to address priorities such as increased gun-control measures. State Democrats withdrew a senate bill that would have effectively confiscated firearms like AR-15s.
Such measures have sparked public backlash and demonstrations from gun-rights activists. More protests are expected early next week.
"These issues of the Second Amendment, the First Amendment, property rights," said Levin, "it's not about being a 'right-winger.' It's about liberty.... People will look for freedom. It's like water finding cracks. But this is how it works, and this is the problem."
Levin also warned about a decline in civic knowledge.
"The principles upon which this nation was founded are not taught, they're not promoted, they're not embraced," he said. "A country cannot survive on its founding principles if its founding principles are not indoctrinated into one generation after the next."