Gun-Quake in Virginia - Second Amendment Sanctuary Uprising Still Unfolding

You may have heard that the Second Amendment sanctuary movement is taking Virginia by storm.  There are overflow crowds at city and county council meetings.  Events are still unfolding.  The best source for keeping up with the situation is the Virginia Citizens Defense League website - vcdl.org.  At the moment, there are 93 Second Amendment sanctuary cities, towns, and counties.  The number is sure to rise because sanctuary resolutions are being considered in two dozen more places.

There was a report that all of this caused the Democrats to abandon plans to introduce an assault weapons ban even though they now control the state legislature and have the Governor’s mansion.  However, they modified their proposal to grandfather in existing weapons and want to require them to be registered.  Critics say gun registration is the first step to gun confiscation and the Democrats’ new position must still be opposed.

The Democrats are also talking about calling out the National Guard to enforce future gun control measures. Governor Ralph Northam said there would be no ‘retaliation’ but did say there would be unspecified ‘consequences’ if law enforcement officers refuse to enforce laws on the books.   Legal analysts agreed the Governor could call out the National Guard, but said it would be unprecedented to do so given it would be the first time the National Guard will have been used to enforce laws many see as tyrannical.  The Virginia National Guard released a statement saying it would not speculate on the possible use of the National Guard for law enforcement purposes.

Other wild talk is flying around.  A sheriff in Virginia threatened to deputize thousands of citizens to get around any gun control measures the new Democrat legislature might pass.  One of the sanctuary counties passed an additional resolution allowing it to order up a militia to ensure that everyone can own a weapon.  One commentator even said the globalists are trying to provoke a civil war and we might see a revolution if authorities try to use deadly force on the populace.

So it’s all pretty amazing to watch, especially since I live in Virginia, but there may be less to gun sanctuaries than meets the eye.  There is commentary to the effect these sanctuary resolutions are just symbolic.  They don’t have any teeth and won’t stop the enforcement of any state or federal gun laws. Unlike illegal immigration sanctuary city laws, the Second Amendment sanctuary measures generally don’t prohibit local government employees from using funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of federal or state gun laws or regulations.  Moreover, these measures are generally nonbinding resolutions, not laws at all. 

So it’s not clear how all this is going to shake out.  I just wish there had been this kind of energy all along in Virginia.  Then maybe Tea Partiers and others on the political right would not have to wonder what’s in store for us now that our state has gone blue. 

Finally, if you don’t know why we have the Second Amendment, it’s to prevent tyranny.  My Potomac Tea Party made a short video on this last year and it’s still on our Potomac Tea Party website.  (Citizens, Give Up Your Guns! - Why We Have the Second Amendment)