Richmond, Virginia –-(Ammoland.com)- On November 5th, Democrats took control of the Virginia legislature and immediately started pushing for California style restrictive gun control measures. Joe Biden is threatening to ban all 9mm handguns if he is elected president. Cory Booker is pushing for an Australian style gun confiscation plan. Presidential hopeful, Michael Bloomberg is pouring millions of dollars into efforts to sway public opinion on gun control.
It looks hopeless, but there is a new movement sweeping the nation that could shift the debate. The Democrats for years have been pushing for sanctuary cities to protect illegal aliens from federal immigration laws. Now the pro-gun community is taking a page out of the leftist playbook and setting up Second Amendment sanctuaries across the country including my home state of Virginia.
Second Amendment sanctuaries are counties or cities that will refuse to enforce unconstitutional gun laws, whether or not they are a state or federal law. Second Amendment sanctuaries believe every elected official must defend the Constitution, or they violate their oath of office since every state official pledge to defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic.
In Virginia, the movement is in full swing. Being the Virginia Director of Gun Owners of America means I am very busy with the efforts to convince the different county’s board of directors that it is the right thing to do. Many organizations have allied in the effort to defend the liberty of the citizens of Virginia.
Gun Owners of America, Virginia Citizen’s Defense League, III% United Patriots of Virginia, and Oath Keepers have all been busy contacting local elected officials and sheriffs to urge them not to enforce Draconian gun laws that violate the people’s natural rights. The reception, for the most part, has been great. We expect to have at least 30 Second Amendment sanctuaries in Virginia by the end of the year. These counties will join the other 240 current Second Amendment sanctuaries across the country, and this is just the start.
The goal of the Second Amendment sanctuary movement in Virginia is to get the majority of counties to declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries. By accomplishing our goal, it will give us the power to approach the Virginia legislature with the knowledge that any anti-liberty law that they pass will be ineffective.
At Gun Owners of America, we have our sample Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance (SASO). It not only blocks unconstitutional laws from being enforced, but it fines individuals up to $2000 and corporations up to $4000 for helping the state to enforce unconstitutional gun laws.
Gun Owners of America Local Affairs Director Matthew Patterson think that we need more Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinances in Virginia as well as across the country to send a clear-cut message to lawmakers. We need to show these lawmakers that we have drawn a line in the sand, and we are not willing to cross it.
“The explosion of localities adopting Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinances is just what we need, especially here in Virginia,” Patterson told me. “The state and federal representatives need to understand that groups like Moms Demand Action and Everytown, funded by billionaires like Bloomberg, do not speak for Virginians. We have a duty to defend our liberty, and if that means that we have to resort to telling the state and federal government that we won’t subject our citizens to unconstitutional laws, then so be it. “
What we see in Virginia is what John Stuart Mill called the “tyranny of the majority” in his 1859 essay On Liberty. There are large population areas in the north of the state, the Richmond area, and the Tidewater region of the Commonwealth. These three regions lean heavily to the left while the rest of Virginia leans rights. You can say that there are almost two distinct states.
Most of the population of the left-leaning areas are transplants who have no connection to the culture of Virginia and its rich firearms history. These people share more in common with the New York liberal mindset that demonizes firearms. These liberals would rather elect a convicted sex offender and disbarred lawyer, like Joe Morrissey, than a pro-gun Republican.
This soft tyranny is why the Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinances spreading throughout Virginia is essential for the survival of our inalienable rights. We need everyone to contact their representatives at every level of government. We need people to reach out to their Sheriffs and remind them of the oath that they took to uphold the Constitution. Average everyday citizens need to speak out on their social media platforms about how important it is to support SASOs.
The time where we can sit back and hope for the best is over. If we don’t fight for our rights today, we will lose them. The longer we wait for, the more those God-given rights are in jeopardy. Gun Owners of America is here to help. I am here to help. Do not hesitate to contact GOA or me. We will help you get started.
To find out more about Gun Owners of America’s Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance and what you can do to help go to https://gunownersaction.org/saso/.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
Thanks John for your article. I too am in Virginia, but in Chesterfield County just south of Richmond. I am also a first-year GOA member. I just wanted to point out that people can sign up for email alerts from Virginia Citizens Defense League that will keep them abreast of what’s going on. As of now Chesterfield County’s Public meeting will be held on December 11th, and I encourage Virginians to attend and pack the house. Great turnout is happening all over. I also encourage people to join GOA as they are really making a difference in the fight. Take… Read more »
So this is what he 2A has come down: tiny islands of sanctuary. Like oceans surrounding these little nation islands, you have the progressives saying that resistance to their interpretation of the law is futile, to beware the flood because it’s coming. I say grab onto whatever you can to stay afloat, and work with it until you have built an ark.
@yzman, Worthy of an up click. Happy Thanksgiving!
Right back atcha, and +1!
Every so called democrat running for the democrats nomination for president supports some kind of additional gun restrictive regulation. They all support more restrictive gun control regulations and that is not good nor is it very intelligent. Here’s why! Generally restrictive gun laws really effect those who obey laws not those who do not obey laws? It effects those who obey laws to the point it actually makes them more vulnerable. The same can be said about law enforcement as well because taking law abiding citizens who carry concealed off the streets and they actually assist law enforcement is not… Read more »
So it seems that gun owners are turning out in droves to support ‘sanctuaries’. Where were they on election day? Instead of turning out in droves to oust the gun control legislators, and all the other liberal infringements on our freedoms, they sat at home. You have to get out and vote to head this off if you truly want to have people in gov’t that will represent your values.
You are assuming your vote cancels out all those dead Democratic voters and will be counted on the pre-programmed electronic voting machines. Action speaks louder than words (and votes).
@JPM, If gun owners turn out in numbers greater than the preprogramed voting machines are programed for, then we can shock the elitists, again. Happy Thanksgiving!
Yes, there are some that just can’t comprehend that the Democrats will do, or be able to do, what they have stated they will do. I recently spoke to someone like that. He was very firm in his belief that, since they were not able to do this in the past, they will not be able to accomplish this now. I tried to explain to him that they have accomplished it in the past; one-gun-a-month, etc., and that it took many years and a Republican majority in both houses to make the gains that we have. These are are the… Read more »
The tyranny in virginia will be squashed. Virginia is sending a message. Democrats, excuse me socialist ideals will not be tolerated by the law abiding citizens. We will not flag or fail. We will fight if needed wherever that may be. We will never surrender our gun rights to anyone. Virginia citizens are sending a message to other states that our rights will not be trampled on. The other states will follow. Tyranny be socialist democrats will not be tolerated anywhere in the US. Virginia will not be another California.
I mentioned this in a earlier issue of Ammoland. Having the politicians in your county say one thing and the sheriff giving only lip service support is nice but means nothing. But the few sheriffs and they are really few who mean they will NOT support any of these nut case laws the governor of every state has the legal power to send in the state police and remove the sheriff and enforce the so called law. I don’t like it but that is the reality–unless the citizens then arm up and protect the sheriff at which time then the… Read more »
@USA, Happy Thanksgiving, bro!
Important and well said. Thank you.
Sanctuaries are saying we will not defend everyone’s rights, just the ones who agree with us. We need to fighting this in every state, city and county. Rights don’t end at the border of a city, state or county. And “soft tyranny”? No, this is Tyranny, period! And what we need to be fighting everywhere, not giving ground to certain areas. This is not a good strategy and makes it even more divisive and won’t unite the country if we just pick certain areas to protect. Let them start confiscating guns and components, let’s see them start their actions of… Read more »
WRONG! Sanctuaries are saying, “We live here and no matter what others and Democrat and liberal “law makers” decide for us, we will not comply. “I know not what course others may take, but give me liberty or give me death”. For too long people have rolled over and taken it, but now finally people are saying “No” and taking a stand. If you can’t understand that, you’re part of the problem.
Sanctuaries are not saying we will not defend everyone. People are saying “not in my town, my county, my city- you’re not gonna infringe on our rights here” in these sanctuary areas. They can only impact their own locality, so they are doing what they can. And it spreads. Now over 80 counties and towns and cities have made similar statements, such that 3/4 of the state is saying, no, you will not infringe on our civil rights. It isn’t dividing the country. People are joining together to stand together for their rights.