Security has been ramped up in state capitals across the United States ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. In Virginia, just two hours' drive from Washington, DC, protesters and militia members turned out to lobby against gun control, although not in large numbers as the tense countdown to the handover of power continues. Hardline conservatives are vowing to keep making their voices heard – for the next four years.
Convoys of gun proponents, many of them fervent supporters of outgoing president Donald Trump, converged on the city of Richmond to defend their cause. Of those, only a handful of far-right hardline groups chose to march to centre of the city.
"Any further gun legislation will be seen as an act of war," said Boogaloo Bois militia member Mike Dunn, armed and dressed in military fatigues, told FRANCE 24 in the Virginia capital. "We're not going to stand for it."
FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris Trent and James André filed this report. To watch, click on the video player above.
