Governor of Virginia threatens consequences for 2nd Amendment sanctuary cities.

Map showing the current status of 2nd Amendment sanctuary cities. Gun Rights Watch. 

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has said that counties that fail to enforce gun laws in Virginia could "face consequences". WTKR. The 2nd Amendment sanctuary movement has exploded in Virginia after Democrats took control of all three branches of government in the state and immediately threatened gun control laws. Those laws would include an assault weapon ban, red flag laws and a ban on training with firearms. Northam has said he "wasn't taking anyone's guns away" despite red flag laws being designed to exactly that, and also claimed the laws being considered are constitutional. Northam did not state what the consequences could be but he did say that the 2nd Amendment sanctuary movement could hurt business. 

My Comment:

This story has been brewing for awhile now and hasn't got much in the way of national attention. I have been following it closely as it looks like it could erupt into violence. The laws proposed are much harsher than we have seen outside of the deepest of blue states and the people of Virginia are having none of it. 

Governor Northam, as a reminder, was embroiled in a massive racism scandal where he was seen in blackface and with someone in a KKK outfit. That would have destroyed the career of any non-Democrat but he somehow survived it and instead of lying low and thanking his luck and media help, he's trying to start a war. 

This is a very good example of the rural/urban divide in America today. The only places that aren't totally rejecting the proposed laws in Virginia are the big cities. Those cities are the places where there is any support for gun control at all while the rest of the state views these laws as a major threat. 

I also think that Virginia is a test case for the gun control movement in general. Most of the worst laws in this country come from blue states where Republicans haven't had power in years. Colorado was the first exception and the gun laws there have been largely ignored by the rest of the state. However, Virginia was until very recently a deep red state. Only demographic shifts allowed the Democrats to take all three chambers of power in the state and that happened in the last election. 

It's unclear how much resistance will be offered by the 2nd amendment sanctuaries. My biggest hope is that local officials will arrest any state or federal official that tries to enforce these crazy laws but I don't see too much signs of that happening. More likely that these counties and cities will simply ignore any requests to cooperate but won't go so far as to arrest someone trying to enforce these unconstitutional laws.

And there is no doubt in my mind that these laws are unconstitutional. Forget about the 2nd amendment for a moment and you still have laws that violate the bill of rights. The ban on training is an obvious violation of the 1st amendment and red flag laws are obvious and terrible violations of the 4th amendment. And, of course, they violate the 2nd amendment as well. 

It's also unclear what, if anything, Governor Northam could do if these laws pass. He's threatening consequences but that's a term so vague it could mean anything from a strongly worded letter all the way to sending state police to attack the leadership of these counties and cities. The 1st option is way more likely but the 2nd would not end well for anyone. 

There are some signs that Northam's will is beginning to crack. One of the laws proposed would have banned assault weapons without a grandfathering in of existing weapons. It seems as though that effort has been dropped though the assault weapons ban still exists. It's possible that the laws might not even pass. Remember, the Democratic majority in the Senate is only two seats and there is a real chance that at least a couple of Democrats won't go along with it.

But what happens if they do? I sincerely think that this could lead to an armed conflict. The people of Virginia are drawing a line in the sand and the Democratic Party seems determined to cross it. There is a lot of chatter online about people actually using their 2nd amendment rights and if that happens there could be bloodshed. 

My sincere hope is that Democrats will come to their senses. I don't think they expected this level of backlash and will likely try to modify these laws further and when that doesn't work, pull them completely. If they are faced with thousands of armed citizens outside of the legislature they probably won't have much of a choice. Either way I will be watching this story closely.