Opinion
In late 2019 and early 2020, a powerful movement swept through the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Local government meetings across the state were flooded with hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of gun owners demanding that the locality stand up for its citizens and become a Second Amendment Sanctuary! The ideal Second Amendment Sanctuary would not enforce any unconstitutional gun laws, especially gun bans or carry bans. (Some localities opted to be Constitutional Sanctuaries instead.)
Sheriffs would often stand side by side with citizens at those meetings.
The situation we find ourselves in is like what we faced back in 2019 – anti-gun Democrats won the election and controlled the House, the Senate, the Governorship, and the Lt. Governor’s office.
The result of the 2A Sanctuary movement was an impressive 95% of Virginia localities standing with gun owners by early 2020. The movement was so huge that it made both national and international news! In fact, it started similar movements in a few other states at the time.
ACTION ITEMS
We need to get the 2020 Second Amendment Sanctuary localities to recommit to that promise. (At the bottom of this alert is the list of existing sanctuaries.)
Virginia is a large state with almost 200 localities, so VCDL is counting on you and gun owners in your area to contact their local government representatives (members of the Board of Supervisors, town council, or city council) and urge them to pass a resolution reaffirming the locality’s Second Amendment Sanctuary status. If they want a model resolution, contact me and I can provide one.
Better yet, attend and speak at the next local government meeting, as time is short before the General Assembly starts around mid-January! Email me ([email protected]) to let me know where and when the meeting is going to be held, and I will put out a VA-ALERT to get other local gun owners to that meeting. Let’s pack the room – that worked wonders in 2020! If your local government refuses to be a sanctuary, let me know that, too.
Contact your local sheriff and encourage them to speak in support of Second Amendment Sanctuaries at the local government meeting.
Contact your local Commonwealth Attorney and urge him or her not to enforce unconstitutional gun control.
If you are a member of a hunt club, a shooting club, a church or synagogue, frequent a shooting range, are an FFL, etc., spread the word, just like we did in 2020! We want legislators to know that gun control is a third rail, best left untouched.
Here is the list of Virginia Second Amendment Sanctuaries as of 2020:
- Accomack
- Alleghany
- Altavista
- Amelia
- Amherst (county)
- Amherst (town)
- Appalachia
- Appomattox
- Augusta
- Bath
- Bedford (county)
- Bedford (town)
- Berryville
- Big Stone Gap
- Blackstone
- Bland
- Bluefield
- Botetourt
- Bowling Green
- Bristol
- Brunswick
- Buchanan
- Buckingham
- Buena Vista
- Burkeville
- Campbell
- Caroline
- Carroll
- Cedar Bluff
- Charles City
- Charlotte
- Chase City
- Chesapeake
- Chesterfield
- Chilhowie
- Chincoteague
- Claremont
- Clarke
- Clifton Forge
- Colonial Heights
- Covington
- Craig
- Crewe
- Culpeper County
- Culpeper Town
- Cumberland
- Dickenson
- Dinwiddie
- Elkton
- Essex
- Town of Exmore
- Fauquier
- Floyd
- Fluvanna County
- Franklin (City)
- Franklin (County)
- Frederick
- Front Royal
- Galax
- Giles
- Gloucester
- Goochland
- Goshen
- Grayson
- Greene
- Greensville
- Town of Grottoes
- Halifax
- Hanover
- Henrico
- Henry
- Highland
- Hopewell
- Isle of Wight
- James City
- King and Queen
- King George
- King William
- Lancaster
- Lee
- Louisa
- Lovettsville
- Lunenburg
- Lynchburg
- Madison
- Martinsville
- Mathews
- Mecklenburg County
- Middlesex
- Mineral
- Montgomery
- Mount Jackson
- Nelson
- New Kent
- New Market
- Northampton
- Northumberland
- Norton
- Nottoway
- Orange
- Page
- Parksley
- Patrick
- Pittsylvania
- Poquoson
- Portsmouth
- Powhatan
- Prince Edward
- Prince George
- Prince William
- Pulaski
- Pulaski (town)
- Rappahannock
- Richmond County
- Roanoke County
- Rockbridge
- Rockingham
- Rocky Mount
- Rural Retreat
- Russell
- Salem
- Saltville
- Scott
- Scottsville
- Shenandoah
- Smyth
- Southampton
- Spotsylvania
- Stafford
- Stanley
- Strasburg
- Suffolk
- Surry ***
- Sussex
- Tappahannock
- Tazewell County
- Vinton
- Virginia Beach
- Warren
- Warsaw
- Washington
- Waynesboro
- Westmoreland
- White Stone
- Wise County
- Wise Town
- Wythe
- York
*** Surry County reneged on their sanctuary status a couple of years ago by enacting a carry ban in their government buildings.
About Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL):
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
For more information, visit: www.vcdl.org.
