I think Virginia is going to waste a lot of taxpayer money on lawsuits defending Northam's bullshit.

I HATE the WashPost, but I read it as opposition research.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...8fd48b3a0_story.html

In Virginia, and elsewhere, gun supporters prepare to defy new laws

By Gregory S. Schneider
November 23, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. CST

AMELIA COURTHOUSE, Va. — Families, church groups, hunt clubs and neighbors began arriving two hours early, with hundreds spilling out of the little courthouse and down the hill to the street in the chilly night air.

They were here to demand that the Board of Supervisors declare Amelia County a “Second Amendment sanctuary” where officials will refuse to enforce any new restrictions on gun ownership.

A resistance movement is boiling up in Virginia, where Democrats rode a platform on gun control to historic victories in state elections earlier this month. The uprising is fueled by a deep cultural gulf between rural red areas that had long wielded power in Virginia and the urban and suburban communities that now dominate. Guns are the focus. Behind that, there is a sense that a way of life is being cast aside.

In the past two weeks, county governments from the central Piedmont to the Appalachian Southwest — Charlotte, Campbell, Carroll, Appomattox, Patrick, Dinwiddie, Pittsylvania, Lee and Giles — haveapproved resolutions that defy Richmond to come take their guns.

It mirrors a trend that began last year in western parts of the United States, where some law enforcement officials vowed to go to jail rather than enforce firearm restrictions, and has spread eastward. In New Mexico, 25 of 33 counties declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” after the state expanded background checks. In Illinois, nearly two-thirds of its counties have done the same.

“My oath of office is to uphold the Constitution of the United States,” Amelia Sheriff Ricky L. Walker said Wednesday night as he waited for the supervisors to meet in this rural county west of Richmond.

If a judge ordered him to seize someone’s guns under a law he viewed as unconstitutional, Walker said, he wouldn’t do it. “That’s what I hang my hat on,” he said.

Some of the unrest is fanned by gun-rights advocacy groups, such as the National Rifle Association and the Virginia Citizens Defense League, which have used social media and old-fashioned networking to offer boilerplate language for resolutions. But the movement is speaking to the anxieties of many who are unsettled by a state that has shifted from red to blue with shocking speed.

All the top leaders in the new Democratic-controlled legislature hail from urban or suburbandistricts in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond. The liberal suburbs outside Washington have the largest delegation in the legislature. And the status of lawmakers from rural red parts of the state has never been lower.

“We need to send a signal to Richmond about Northern Virginia; we don’t want their influence to affect us down here. We’re very different people,” said Clay Scott, a 25-year-old construction project manager whose family has lived in Amelia for generations.

Democrats won control in the elections on the strength of suburban districts where gun violence was a central issue, amplified by a May 31 mass shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building that left 12 people dead.

Poll finds Virginians focused on gun policy ahead of pivotal election

When the General Assembly convenes in January, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has vowed to move quickly with Democratic leaders to pass measures such as universal background checks, limits on the types and numbers of firearms that can be purchased and a “red flag” law allowing authorities to seize weapons from someone deemed a threat.

The proposals “were essentially on the ballot in November,” said Brian Moran, Northam’s secretary of public safety. “And the people have spoken through their votes.”

'Gun owners are awake'
The resolutions rocketing around the Virginia countryside all have similar language. Philip Van Cleave of the Virginia Citizens Defense League said he drafted one for Amelia to consider, along with about 30 other counties — out of 95 total — also taking it up. The matter was added to the Amelia agenda too late for it to be advertised so, by law, the board can’t vote on it until next month. Yet a crowd of 300 or more turned out after hearing about it through word of mouth.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Van Cleave said of the outpouring of interest. “Everything has exploded right now. Gun owners are awake.”

A similar resolution that passed earlier this week in Appomattox County pledged to oppose any efforts to “unconstitutionally restrict” the right to bear arms. It said the county would do this “through legal action, the power of the appropriation of public funds, and the right to petition for redress of grievances, and the direction to the law enforcement and judiciary of Appomattox County to not enforce any unconstitutional law.”

The concept is modeled after the “sanctuary city” stance that some localities have taken in response to federal immigration enforcement efforts. In those cases, local law enforcement officials decline to take voluntary steps to help the federal government detain or deport undocumented immigrants.

In theory, a Second Amendment sanctuary would be different. Refusing to carry out a judge’s order to seize weapons from someone would be breaking the law. That could mean jail time. Local agencies receive funding from the state, so even adopting the stance is provocative.

“The notion that law enforcement would not follow the law is appalling,” said Lori Haas, a longtime activist with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “I suspect that many of these counties and their elected officials are posturing in front of certain voters.”

As the sanctuary movement has spread around the country, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence found that it generally has not led to active resistance. “As a practical matter, these are largely symbolic,” said Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at Giffords. “We haven’t seen cases where there are folks that are outright defying the law.”

Skaggs said the trend means that authorities in such states as Washington, Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico might be neglecting to use legal tools that could help prevent gun violence and suicide. “While this is largely a political or symbolic gesture, I still think it’s quite troubling,” he said.

At Amelia on Wednesday night, Del. John J. McGuire III (R-Henrico) took the opportunity to show up and announce that he is seeking next year’s GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.).

“I don’t understand what part of ‘shall not infringe’ they don’t understand,” he proclaimed on the courthouse steps as a darkness settled on the throngs who couldn’t get in. “I’ll fight my ass off for you.”

McGuire just won a second term in the House of Delegates in a nearby rural district. But he’ll be in the minority now, with Democrats posting a 55-to-45 advantage in the House and a 21-to-19 edge in the Senate.

Moran, the public safety secretary, didn’t attend the Amelia meeting but has been monitoring the phenomenon. He held gun-control town halls around the state over the summer, discussing solutions ahead of a special legislative session that Northam called in July to take up gun-control bills. Republicans adjourned that session after only 90 minutes, enraging Democrats and handing them a campaign issue in the fall.

“All of his proposals have been vetted in the courts,” Moran said. “The courts have determined that they do not violate the Second Amendment. We feel confident that law-abiding citizens should not be concerned that their rights will be violated.”

Some Virginians say fighting gun violence requires more than new laws

But to many residents in Amelia, any kind of gun restriction feels personal. They’ve heard that some proposals would prevent kids under 18 from owning guns and say people who would ban assault weapons don’t understand what they are.

Tony Easter, 60, said he learned about the proposed sanctuary resolution last week and spent four days driving to hunt clubs and friends’ houses around the county to drum up support. “My jaws are hurting from trying to explain this to people,” he said.

Easter grew up hunting in Amelia and has worked as a hunting and fishing guide. He’s active with the NRA and raised his daughters and son “in the woods,” he said.

“I live out here in the country; I’m a rural citizen,” Easter said. “We don’t agree with how Fairfax and Newport News and now even Chesterfield have dominated the state.”

He realizes, he said, that people in those places see guns differently — and that he doesn’t understand their circumstances any more than they understand his. But solving their problems shouldn’t mean changing his way of life, he said.

“What goes on in Fairfax can stay in Fairfax,” Easter said. “We just want to live our life the way we have been raised to live.”

Again and again at Wednesday night’s hearing, residents rose to speak about their first shotgun, about the hours spent stalking game with a father or grandfather.

Hannah Davis said she grew up hunting with her dad and eating what they killed. “The only reason I’m standing here today is because I was fed by wildlife,” she said.

Others said they feel safer in Amelia than in the city, specifically because so many people carry guns and know how to use them. And some warned of the need for protection in case of a government that goes too far.

“I am a proud descendant of a Revolutionary soldier that fought four and a half years to free our land,” said Troy Carter. “Our forefathers bled on this very ground in Virginia for this very reason. The Second Amendment is ours. Our forefathers fought for it. I’m sending this message to Ralph Northam because Virginia is here, and we are awake.”

Only one person out of the dozens who spoke expressed a different point of view. Allison Crews, 44, rose initially to thank residents for electing her to the Piedmont Soil & Water Conservation District, but then mentioned that she’s a member of Moms Demand Action and believes in “sensible gun legislation.”

She drew light, polite applause. Afterward, Crews said she grew up in a family of hunters and thinks the urge to block all gun restrictions is misguided. “You can lead with fear or lead with love,” she said. “For me, love always wins.”

The main thing that impressed her about the public hearing was the number of people who showed up — far beyond anything she’d seen in years of attending county meetings.

“I wish we’d see those crowds for things like water quality in the town, or the school system,” she said.

Amelia’s supervisors will vote on a resolution Dec. 18. The meeting has already been moved to the high school auditorium in anticipation of a big turnout.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironworker:

quote:

Originally posted by burnetma:
Virginians will need to make a critical decision in the next 2 months:

Do you allow a hundred or so politicians to pass laws that overnight turn hundreds of thousands of citizens into felons or do you hold those hundred or so politicians accountable for violating the Constitutional Rights of hundreds of thousands?

The question is really that simple.

I assure every Virginian that if you concede on one issue and the violation of one right, this same group will feel empowered and will eventually take them all. The citizens of every other state damn well better take notice, because as goes Virginia thus go the rest.

By my eye, Virginia is once again Ground Zero for the future of this nation. Will the patriots of Virginia and the other states heed the call.

burnetma, that is a powerful and stirring post. I have donated time and money and voted. What should I do now?

Get physically active in your town, county, and state.
Join local groups.
Attend rallies.
Attend meetings.
Call legislators.
Mail legislators.
Talk with your Sheriff.
Talk with your neighbors.
Be respectful, but forcefully clear...no infringement is acceptable.

quote:

Originally posted by burnetma:

quote:

Originally posted by Ironworker:

quote:

Originally posted by burnetma:
Virginians will need to make a critical decision in the next 2 months:

Do you allow a hundred or so politicians to pass laws that overnight turn hundreds of thousands of citizens into felons or do you hold those hundred or so politicians accountable for violating the Constitutional Rights of hundreds of thousands?

The question is really that simple.

I assure every Virginian that if you concede on one issue and the violation of one right, this same group will feel empowered and will eventually take them all. The citizens of every other state damn well better take notice, because as goes Virginia thus go the rest.

By my eye, Virginia is once again Ground Zero for the future of this nation. Will the patriots of Virginia and the other states heed the call.

burnetma, that is a powerful and stirring post. I have donated time and money and voted. What should I do now?

Get physically active in your town, county, and state.
Join local groups.
Attend rallies.
Attend meetings.
Call legislators.
Mail legislators.
Talk with your Sheriff.
Talk with your neighbors.
Be respectful, but forcefully clear...no infringement is acceptable.

I have done and I am continuing to do all of that. I was at the Chantilly gun show today and talked to the table full of guys from the American Legion. They told me they were only concerned about veterans issue. I told them that if a whole bunch of veterans got looked up under one of these proper laws, it might be a veterans issue. They said it had not happened yet.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironworker:

quote:

Originally posted by burnetma:

quote:

Originally posted by Ironworker:

quote:

Originally posted by burnetma:
Virginians will need to make a critical decision in the next 2 months:

Do you allow a hundred or so politicians to pass laws that overnight turn hundreds of thousands of citizens into felons or do you hold those hundred or so politicians accountable for violating the Constitutional Rights of hundreds of thousands?

The question is really that simple.

I assure every Virginian that if you concede on one issue and the violation of one right, this same group will feel empowered and will eventually take them all. The citizens of every other state damn well better take notice, because as goes Virginia thus go the rest.

By my eye, Virginia is once again Ground Zero for the future of this nation. Will the patriots of Virginia and the other states heed the call.

burnetma, that is a powerful and stirring post. I have donated time and money and voted. What should I do now?

Get physically active in your town, county, and state.
Join local groups.
Attend rallies.
Attend meetings.
Call legislators.
Mail legislators.
Talk with your Sheriff.
Talk with your neighbors.
Be respectful, but forcefully clear...no infringement is acceptable.

I have done and I am continuing to do all of that. I was at the Chantilly gun show today and talked to the table full of guys from the American Legion. They told me they were only concerned about veterans issue. I told them that if a whole bunch of veterans got looked up under one of these proper laws, it might be a veterans issue. They said it had not happened yet.

Yet...

When all these fail, then the next phase begins.

Lori Haas wrote an op-ed for the Roanoke Times bashing the sanctuary counties and VCDL's Van Cleave in particular. She flat out said gun control was THE issue that voters considered when giving Democrats the majority. This was my posted response to her:

Haas is delusional on the matter. Gun control was NOT an issue that gave democrats the majority. Lawsuits that forced redistricting did the trick. And the fact that the feckless Republican Party of Virginia failed to field candidates in over 25% of the contests. The plain fact is very few democrats ran on gun control. The ones that did were mainly in northern Virginia where any candidate whatsoever with a (D) after it would win. In southeast Virginia, gun control was mentioned by only one democratic candidate - Missy Cotter Smasal- and she lost. No other candidate mentioned it. And in southeast Virginia, we got to see ads for dozens of candidates. Gun control was not on the ballot. That gun control was a big issue is a bald faced lie. Health care was the only consistent issue that democrats ran on in Virginia. Not abortion, and not gun control. Remember, there are 5.6 million registered voters in Virginia. Scarcely 50% of them voted. There were more votes for Republicans than democrats. And Republicans won by larger margins that most democrats. Haas, she should enjoy her delusions while she can. She can vilify Van Cleave as she wishes. But the treachery of the democratic party to turn their wins into forcing gun control down the throats of law abiding Virginians will do more to solidify resistance than any other issue. Ms. Hass, enjoy your fantasies while you can.

Holy cow, what a crap article!

Then again, "Hass is the Virginia State Director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence."

There's not much in that article beyond name-calling and BS-spewing.

"... supported by 90% of Virginia citizens." I call BS on that one, big-time.

"AR-15 toting white men" Geeze, lady.

Bless her heart....

https://keepva2a.com/

Link will give you email addresses and phone numbers for BoS and House/Senate members. Also includes a sample email to send out as well as sample resolution for local boards.

I've been a member of the NRA since I was a kid. I just joined the VCDL.

Welcome to the future
Signed, Colorado.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
https://keepva2a.com/

Link will give you email addresses and phone numbers for BoS and House/Senate members. Also includes a sample email to send out as well as sample resolution for local boards.

Thanks, Jesse. I'm going to burn up my email account today!

Below is the draft of an email I intend to send to the entire Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County, Virginia. I would like SF members to review it for clarity, accuracy, spelling, content and length. Is it too long? Too obtuse?

I know it's only a drop in the bucket, but my hope is that a more personal message and not a boilerplate email would be taken more sincerely. What think you?

quote:

Proposed Email to VA BOS:
Hello,

As a resident of Loudoun County, I am sending this email to the Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County, Virginia.

Virginians were at the forefront of the founding of this country, and men like Richard Henry Lee, James Madison, Patrick Henry, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, shaped and directed what would become the greatest free nation on the face of the Earth. The rights that were enumerated in the Constitution they developed were "endowed by their Creator" (Declaration of Independence), which means they pre-dated and pre-existed the Constitution. Thus, the founding principles of our Consitutional Republic are:

• Our Rights are unalienable and come from God
  
• The purpose of civil government is to protect our God-given Rights
  
• Civil government is legitimate only when it operates with our consent
  
• Since the U.S. Constitution is the formal expression of the Will of the People, government operates with our consent only when it obeys the Constitution.*
  

I am concerned with the increasing erosion of our Constitutionally-secured Rights. Recently, legislation has been proposed to the upcoming General Assembly that seeks to infringe our Second Amendment rights. "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" was proposed by Virginian James Madison. Several Supreme Court rulings have upheld citizens' right to keep and bear arms (see District of Columbia v. Heller [554 U.S. 570 (2008)] and McDonald v. Chicago [561 U.S. 742 (2010)]).

Nevertheless, anti-Constitutional bills continue to be proposed nationwide, and Virginia is poised to see its share.

I would like to ask if the Loudoun County board has considered a resolution making Loudoun County a Second Amendment Sanctuary county? Already, 23 Virginia counties have passed 2a Sanctuary motions, and Prince William and Fairfax Counties will be hearing discussions soon. If such a motion has been presented, would you please inform me of the date and time for the vote? How do you plan on voting on the resolution?

Thank you for your attention and consideration,

Signature

* Source: https://freedomoutpost.com/dec...e-court-or-congress/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fpuhan,

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
Below is the draft of an email I intend to send...

Thank you for posting this. I have thought several times that it would be good for us to collaborate on the letter-writing a little, so as to fact-check one another and make letters more well-written.

fpuhan,

I wrote Matt Letourneau already. He's not replied. Koran S., is my district, but I have met him, probably not worth asking him, in fact he didn't even respond to my unrelated last email.

Back to my original point, I wrote one of our few R Supervisors left. No answer, not sure if he's busy or has nothing to report. Asked if 2a sanctuary was on agenda at all at this time.

I wrote to the entire Loudoun County BOS. Moments ago, I received this response from Suzanne Volpe, (outgoing) Algonkian District Supervisor (NOT my district!):

quote:

Suzanne Volpe, Algonkian District Supervisor:
Thank you for your note regarding the Second Amendment Sanctuary County Resolution. I would be more than happy to sponsor such a resolution, however there isn’t time left in my term to complete a resolution. My opponent, a Mom’s Demand Action Member, won the election along with other gun-control advocates, who will take office in less than a month. The majority of my current colleagues, who support the Second Amendment will be leaving the Board. Under the circumstances, if the current Board were to forceibly add an item on the last meeting agenda, December 17th, I fear the new Board would then rescind the action at their first business meeting in January. It is sad to say, but elections do have consequences.

Most sincerely,

Suzanne Volpe
Algonkian District
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

^^^ Sounds like a cop out to me. If the people who are there now would support and pass it, do it. Then let the leftists deal with overturning it and what repercussions may come! That's what they would do. We need to use their tactics against them.

quote:

Originally posted by 10-7 leo:
If the people who are there now would support and pass it, do it.

Exactly. No time left? BS.
I see three solid weeks remaining in December.
Pitter, patter! Get after it!

Worth a watch...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LiuqkEag57YY

Boss

quote:

Originally posted by Micropterus:
In my area, I saw lots of commercials for lots of candidates that were outside my district. None ran on gun control. The only one that even mentioned it - universal background checks - lost. Every candidate that I saw run on abortion lost, too. The dems that won ran on health care.

The media would have you believe that gun control with the big issue in Virginia. It really wasn't any issue at all. Next to no one ran on it. Even in Virginia Beach.

What won this election for the dems is redistricting, and an incredibly inept republican party that simply cannot articulate what they stand for or what was at stake. Oh, and non-voters. I know a huge amount of people that simply didn't vote but who would have voted republican if they could have been bothered to get off their asses and vote.

Well, I voted. Got to the polls about noon. Parking lot virtually empty. At noon!

Knew a couple of the poll workers and stopped to chat with them. They said THEY HAD NEVER SEEN SUCH A POOR TURNOUT!

We got the slimy democraP politicians in Richmond because so many people, for whatever reason, simply refused to come out and vote simply refused to come out and vote