Last Updated on December 15, 2019
As Virginia Democrats prepare to assume full control of the state legislature, bringing with them promises of New York-style gun control and confiscation bills, they are quickly learning that much of the state will not comply.
So far, 76 of Virginia’s counties and 9 independent cities have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, as local sheriffs and boards of supervisors vow not to cooperate with or enforce unconstitutional gun laws.
The list of Second Amendment sanctuaries is growing by the day, and Democrats are contemplating their next move.
While speaking with a group of reporters in Virginia Beach earlier this week, Governor Ralph Northam issued a thinly veiled threat to localities and law enforcement officers standing in the way of his party’s agenda, all the while insisting that the gutting of the Second Amendment is totally constitutional, and of course, makes Virginians safer.
“If we have constitutional laws on the books and law enforcement officers are not enforcing those laws, there’s gonna be some consequences,” said Northam. “I’m about making Virginia safer,” he continued, while appearing visibly frustrated at the outpouring of opposition taking root statewide.Â
Though Northam did not elaborate on what “consequences” Second Amendment sanctuaries may face, Rep. Donald McEachin has provided a few suggestions.
McEachin, a Democrat from Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, which includes the state capital of Richmond, took the Governor’s threats to the next level, suggesting cutting off state funding to Second Amendment Sanctuaries, and even military enforcement of gun control and confiscation laws.
“The governor may have to nationalize the National Guard to enforce the law,” McEachin told Newsweek Magazine. “I don’t know how serious these counties are and how severe the violations of law will be, but that’s obviously an option he has.”
McEachin isn’t the only one of Virginia’s Congressional Democrats encouraging the governor and state lawmakers to take such drastic measures.
Gerry Connolly, of the 11th District, a Democratic stronghold, has suggested prosecuting sheriffs and police officers who refuse to enforce unconstitutional gun laws.
“I would hope they either resign in good conscience because they cannot uphold the law which they are sworn to uphold, or they’re prosecuted for failure to fulfill their oath,” Connelly told the Washington Examiner.
“The law is the law… you don’t have a choice.”
