Virginians Get Serious About Second Amendment Sanctuaries

In the Commonwealth of Virginia, a showdown is on the horizon.

For many within Old Dominion, the Second Amendment is absolutely sacred, and with good reason.  This is, after all, the only real insurance policy that Americans have against the creeping evils of tyranny, and against a government who would like nothing more than to disarm the populace to make for an easier governance.

Well, America isn’t about easy, it’s about remaining free.

Virginians know this all too well.

A standing-room only crowd of more than 400 packed the meeting room, filled the lobby and spilled into the parking lot recently in rural Buckingham County, Virginia. They had one thing on their minds: guns.

The vast majority favored a proposal to protect their right to carry firearms: declaring the county a Second Amendment Sanctuary.

Similar scenes have played out across Virginia over the last six weeks. Gun owners are descending on local offices to demand that their government leaders establish sanctuaries for gun rights.

The resolutions, promoted heavily by the gun rights group Virginia Citizens Defense League, vary from county to county, but most declare the intention of local officials to oppose any “unconstitutional restrictions” on the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. In the last two months, more than 100 counties, cities and towns in Virginia have approved such resolutions.

One legislative possibility in particular has Virginians concerned.

One proposal by incoming Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw has enflamed gun rights advocates and helped fuel the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement. The bill, as initially proposed, would make it a felony to sell, manufacture, purchase or possess assault weapons and certain magazines. Saslaw has since said that allowing current owners to keep their weapons “makes sense,” and he expects to amend the bill.

For many in rural Virginia, internet meme-makers have stirred up a so-far unsubstantiated fear that gun confiscation could be coming in a matter of weeks, further whipping the populace into a frenzy.