We make a big stink when D.C. legislators cuss during meetings or when NBC Meet the Press moderator David Gregory holds an empty magazine on national TV during an interview with the NRA. But given this news from Virginia, we’ve got nothing on the Old Dominion. Take it away, Examiner:

A Richmond-area lawmaker brandished an AK-47 on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates on Thursday in a wild stunt aimed at rallying support for tougher gun laws.

Del. Joe Morrissey, D-Highland Springs, pulled the weapon out shortly after the day’s session got underway, a time when legislators typically welcome school groups and other visitors in the chamber’s gallery.

Morrissey assured his colleagues the gun was not loaded and pointed it toward the ceiling as he pleaded for Republican House Speaker Bill Howell to help push through a subcommittee the assault weapons ban that Morrissey is proposing.

Despite his stunt—he wanted to stress that guns like his AK-47 were largely legal in Virginia—Morrissey’s attempt to pass a bill that would ban assault weapons failed. Before it was voted down, though, a Virginia Republican told Morrissey that the Holocaust and killings in Soviet gulags occurred because people in those countries weren’t armed.

In a recent poll, a majority of Virginians said they backed posting armed guards at schools while also limiting access to assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.