Second Amendment Sanctuary Movement 2.0 Underway in Virginia

A few days ago Tom covered the Lynchburg, Virginia city council’s renewal of the Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution adopted six years ago, soon after Democrats gained complete control of state government. The first iteration of the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement swept across the state like a wildfire, with more than 100 counties and municipalities eventually adopting resolutions and ordinances stating they would not enforce any gun control laws that infringed on our right to keep and bear arms. 

The movement largely faded after Republicans regained control of statewide offices in the 2021 elections, and even after Democrats once again captured the legislature, governorship, and Attorney General’s office last November it remained pretty dormant. 

Once Democrats unveiled dozens of gun control bills in early January, though, the alarm bells started ringing and the slumber stopped. Over the past couple of weeks a number of counties and cities have reiterated their status as Second Amendment Sanctuaries, including Spotsylvania County just a couple of days ago. 

The county approved a resolution in 2019 declaring its intent, and Livingston District Supervisor Jacob Lane reiterated that stance during a meeting on Jan. 29. On Tuesday, the board voted 7-0 to approve a new resolution on the matter as the General Assembly considers restrictions on assault weapons and other gun control measures.

The resolution states: “The board of supervisors hereby declares its opposition to unconstitutional restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms, included, but not limited to, any restrictions on related firearm accessories, firearm training and other similar items, services and activities which support the safe and lawful ownership and use of firearms in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America, and that the board of supervisors hereby reaffirms and renews its declaration of 2019 that Spotsylvania County, Virginia is a Second Amendment sanctuary.”

Westmoreland County reaffirmed its status as a Second Amendment Sanctuary on February 9, and Prince George’s County followed suit a day later. 

At its February 10 Board of Supervisors Meeting, the Board voted unanimously to express opposition to any law that would unconstitutionally restrict the rights under the Second Amendment of the citizens of Prince George County to bear arms. 

The Prince George County Board of Supervisors wish to express its intent to stand as a Sanctuary County for Second Amendment rights and to oppose, within the limits of the Constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia, any efforts to unconstitutionally restrict such rights of the citizens to keep and bear arms including through legal action, the power of appropriation of public funds, and the right to petition for redress of grievances. 

I know that Wythe County, Bedford County, Culpeper County, Campbell County, and the city of Colonial Heights have also reaffirmed their status, and the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to take up the issue at its February 18th meeting. There may be other counties that have also reaffirmed their status, and I’m guessing that there are more to come. 

I’ve asked my own county supervisor to bring up the resolution passed in 2020 for reaffirmation at the next board meeting, but that’s not scheduled until early March. I encourage other Virginia gun owners to do the same, and to reach out to their county sheriff and Commonwealth’s Attorney as well. 

I will say that Democrats have been pretty savvy in how they’ve crafted their anti-gun bills this year in order to avoid enforcement issues at the local level. As of right now the bans on so-called assault firearms and large capacity magazines grandfather in existing owners, and the permit-to-purchase scheme they’re pushing would be run by the Virginia State Police and not county sheriffs. They’re still aiming for some new restrictions on the right to carry, though, and those laws would be enforced by sheriffs and local law enforcement. A county’s Second Amendment Sanctuary status won’t spare gun owners from every one of the Democrats’ 2A infringements, but it’s still worth pursuing. 

Editor’s Note: The mainstream media continues to lie about gun owners and the Second Amendment. 

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