Second Amendment Sanctuaries Are Legal And Right

The current situation in Virginia, as Christmas rapidly approaches, is that its Governor, Ralph Northam, with the help of a new Democrat majority in the legislature, plans to pass bills that would outlaw certain types of firearms that are now quite legal to own.  Indeed, he plans to outlaw guns that are currently legal in all 50 States of the Union.  Presumably, he then plans to arrest and imprison anyone who will not comply.  He even threatens to call out the National Guard to carry out a house to house search and arrest function.

In response, Virginians have erected what are called Second Amendment Sanctuary counties and cities where the new laws will not be enforced, and where sheriffs and local police will not cooperate with the effort to make felons out of law abiding citizens.

While Second Amendment Sanctuaries are a new idea in our time, they apparently are not new at all.  Indeed, as attorney Hal Holbook writes at the American Thinker today, in a article entitled Second Amendment Sanctuaries Started in 1774, the idea has been around since the founding.

Spearheading the war on Virginia gun owners is Gov. Ralph Northam, best known for his gig in blackface or Klan attire, and for calmly endorsing post-delivery abortion, that is, infanticide. To divert attention from the backlash, he is moving to criminalize all sorts of innocent conduct that has been lawful in the Commonwealth since Jamestown was settled in 1607.

It’s as if “the Redcoats are coming” again. Northam’s counterpart in 1774 was Lord Dunmore, the last royal governor, who took measures to disarm “disloyal” Virginians led by Patrick Henry. The patriots were arming and organizing themselves into independent companies to protect their rights.

None other than George Washington formed the Fairfax Independent Militia Company. “Threat’ned with the Destruction of our Civil-rights, & Liberty,” wrote George Mason, the volunteers pledged that “we will, each of us, constantly keep by us” a musket, six pounds of gunpowder, and 20 pounds of lead.

...snip...

... Counties that have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries make clear their dedication to use all lawful means to protect their constitutional rights. Law-enforcement authorities have scarce resources and must choose how to allocate them. Work to solve murders and robberies, or track down gun owners because they have rifles with those oh-so-deadly pistol grips or adjustable stocks? That’s a no-brainer.

But those who support filling the prisons with law-abiding citizens just because they have, for instance, a rifle that will also shoot flares -- which is nothing more than a distress signal -- should remember our history. The Second Amendment was adopted to prevent exactly those kinds of infringements.

What Halbrook is pointing out with this article is that, contrary to Attorney General Mark Herring's assertions, the current wave of Second Amendment sanctuaries are both legal and have a historical basis. But that is exactly the point that Eric Pratt of the Gun Owners of America made in an article published in The Roanoke Times entitled Second Amendment Sanctuaries Are Lawful and Right Pratt writes:

Those hostile to the Second Amendment rights of individuals to keep and bear arms are mischaracterizing the efforts of Virginians who urge local governments to pass “Second Amendment Sanctuary” resolutions. Critics falsely claim such policies openly defy state law. They do not.

Sanctuary resolutions provide the most prudent and effective way for local officials to inform the newly elected General Assembly and the governor that if they rush forward to create new felony crimes to jail law-abiding Virginians — just for exercising their most fundamental and natural right of self-defense — then they cannot expect localities to enforce such unjust laws.

As noted, Governor Northam has forces at his command. The State Police and the National Guard are two such forces. Indeed, he could deputize more people if he so chose to carry out his laws. The question, though, for both members of the State Police and the National Guard is will they obey an order which is clearly Unconstitutional? The military is well aware that simply obeying an order is no excuse. That is the reason for the Nuremberg Trials after World War II. Following orders that are not moral or legal does not absolve the individual who followed those orders.  Everyone at all levels needs to be clear that he may be personally held liable for any order he carries out that is not legal or moral. 

Please read both articles, and spread the word among your friends and acquaintances.  The next two years will be interesting times in The Old Dominion.  And, of course, North Carolina is next in the cross hairs.  Keep your powder dry.