Social media lit up over the weekend with not-so-vague talk of a second Civil War simmering in the Commonwealth of Virginia as more than 90 counties have now joined the “Second Amendment Sanctuary” movement and one sheriff has threatened to deputize his constituents in response to threatened gun control legislation by the new Democrat legislative majority in Richmond.
Into the middle of this volatile brew came Virginia Rep. Donald McEachin (D-4th District) suggesting that anti-gun Gov. Ralph Northam might call up the National Guard to enforce gun control laws passed in 2020 if the county commissions and sheriffs won’t.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Virginia Democrats have “abandoned their gun confiscation proposal…following an outpouring of opposition to gun control across the state.”
But how long might that last? Probably just long enough for Virginia Democrats to believe the citizens have calmed down and returned to a state of lethargy.
While activists in some 90-plus counties are now raising a ruckus, it might be educational to look at November’s voter turnout, which was only about 40 percent, according to published reports. When 60 percent of voters, including gun owners, sit out an election, the current situation is what they get.
In the midst of this, Culpepper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins told Fox News he will deputize residents in his county.
“They will be properly vetted through a normal process. Everything from normal background checks that we do for other deputy sheriffs as well as psych [evaluations]. It’s not just a blanket policy of swearing-in anyone who is interested,” Sheriff Jenkins told Fox & Friends recently.
According to the National Review, the 93 counties involved in the Sanctuary movement represent about 40 percent of the population in Virginia. That may not impress anti-gun Democrats or the governor, who seem intent on passing new restrictions in the wake of this year’s mass shooting at Virginia Beach.
The kind of “civil war” now brewing in Virginia may not be the shooting kind, but it is likely to be a noisy affair with plenty of shouting.
At the same time this is going on, the other hotbed of gun control is Washington State, where an online petition calling for the impeachment of anti-gun Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson has garnered tens of thousands of signatures. While it has no force in law, the petition does reflect discontent with both officials for their anti-gun-rights actions.
