Philip Van Cleave (born 1952 in Kankakee, Illinois)[1] is an American gun rights advocate and the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL).
[2] When he was 21, he volunteered as a reserve deputy sheriff in San Antonio and purchased his first .357 magnum Ruger service revolver.
"[9] In 2018 Van Cleave appeared in a fake promotional pro-gun rights video advocating the arming of children and toddlers by Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime spoof interview series, Who is America?
In the segment Van Cleave endorses “Kinderguardians,” a phony program to teach and arm schoolchildren as young as three to protect themselves in the classroom.
[11] Other notable pro-gun politicians were duped by the fake award into appearing in the segment, including former US Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, former US congressman Joe Walsh, and former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Roy Moore.