Counties across the state of Virginia are passing Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions in anticipation of strict gun control measures planned by the majority-held Democratic Virginia General Assembly.
On Monday, citizens spilled out of the Betty Queen Center in Louisa where an estimated 600 people gathered to pass a resolution that protects the gun rights of Virginians. 80 other counties in Virginia have signed similar resolutions including Appomattox, Bedford, and Lee counties.
In Halifax, citizens overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing any new gun control legislation that might be passed in the coming state assembly. In southwestern Buchanan County, residents signed a statement demanding the resignation of Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.
Northam has made gun control a priority of the upcoming legislative session, and Democratic lawmakers have proposed bills to restrict firearms purchases and implement controversial “red flag” legislation giving officers the right to disarm individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others.
Ken Allen, 45, attended the Louisa meeting with his 10-year-old son. “Everybody has a job to protect the constitutional republic that was set up for us. The Second Amendment is the ultimate protection for all other rights in the Bill of Rights,” Allen said. “We, the people, are supposed to control the government, not the other way around.”
In November, state Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw introduced SB 16, which would make it “unlawful for any person to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, possess or transport an assault firearm.” Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Wexton’s office has drafted legislation that would allow credit card companies to flag purchases that could signal “homegrown violent extremism.”
Sanctuary resolutions have failed to gain support in the urban counties of Virginia, and a resolution was defeated at the Roanoke City Council meeting where more than 50 gun rights supporters voiced concerns before Mayor Sherman Lea. Roanoke has been one of the most proactive areas in the state for gun control legislation, and there are no Republicans currently sitting on the Roanoke City Council. Similarly, resolutions are not expected to pass in some of Virginia’s most densely-populated counties such as Richmond, Arlington, Loudon, and Henrico.
“Democrats said ‘nobody wants to take your guns’ and then, literally, the moment the election was over, they drafted bills that amount to gun confiscation. People realize just how extreme the Left has gotten on gun control,” said Virginia delegate and congressional candidate Nick Freitas.
In Culpeper County this morning, citizens overflowed into the hallway and the resolution was passed unanimously. By the evening, residents of Gloucester, Goochland, and Page counties had also adopted the resolution.
Virginia is not the first state where counties have passed sanctuary resolutions. Similar measures have found success in Illinois, Alaska, Wyoming, and Oregon over the past decade. Since 2011, Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg has spent millions on anti-gun ads and hired top Barack Obama aides to organize for gun control in the state. The issue highlights a growing divide between the liberal enclaves of urban Virginia and their rural, gun-owning neighbors.
