One of Virginia’s Democratic state delegates has requested Attorney General Mark Herring (D) offer a formal opinion on the growing number of Second Amendment sanctuary declarations being made by conservative counties across the state.
The Virginia Mercury reported on December 2nd, “Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, said a legal opinion could help clear up confusion on an issue that has ‘become a flashpoint across our state.’”
Virginia recently passed a whole new slate of gun laws and Jones told the Attorney General that he is concerned the growing amount of Second Amendment sanctuary counties endanger the Commonwealth’s integrity. He said, “The bills passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor are binding for our entire Commonwealth and its citizens… The legal precedent we would set by allowing communities to selectively ignore those laws at will is alarming and indicative of the same mindset that nearly one hundred and fifty years ago led this country to dissolve into a civil war.”
In the past Virginia’s governor and Attorney General has painted people who support the Second Amendment as potential domestic terrorists, rightwing extremists, and as Ammoland’s David Codrea says, “the most damning smear of all: racists.”
True to the narrative state delegate Jones wrote:
Given the recurring incidents of gun violence in Norfolk and its surrounding areas, violence that has repeatedly been shown to disproportionately harm communities of color, it is my firm belief that it is incumbent on me as their elected representative to request action from your office on this matter.
Other attacks on gun-rights advocates in Virginia is the Democrat proposed Intolerable Acts. This edict is directly aimed at those in the state who believe the Second Amendment is the ultimate check and balance retained by the people.
Another new law flags credit card purchases under the guise of protecting Virginia citizens from “homegrown violent extremists and other perpetrators of domestic terrorism.” In reality the law allows the government to create a de facto gun registry list and would make confiscation a snap.
As Cordea notes:
It’s curious that Jones, a politician virtually guaranteed his seat based on district demographics is complaining about Virginians in peaceable places like Tazewell County, rated “among the safest counties in the USA with 1.00 per 1,000 residents crime rate compared to national 4.69 per 1,000 average.” By comparison, Norfolk’s crime rate “was higher than in 85.2% of U.S. cities.”
At this point, Attorney General Herring is telling reporters that the Second Amendment resolutions carry no legal weight. Herring says the resolutions will have no legal effect but are “just the gun lobby trying to scare a lot of people.”
More than 40 cities and counties in Virginia have declared that as 2nd Amendment sanctuaries they will not enforce the new invasive gun control legislation.
“We’ve got plenty of gun laws, too many,” said gun-rights activist Phillip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. “These localities won’t attempt to enforce or spend money on enforcing unconstitutional gun laws.”
Despite what Herring says, Van Cleave warns that gun rights activists will not be satisfied with empty gestures. He said that he and others are “prepared to sue and get injunctions to prevent these things from taking effect” if they must.
Meanwhile gun-control zealots continue to declare those who adhere to “the supreme Law of the Land” to be lawless and haters.
