The managing director of litigation and national enforcement policy at anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety complained Friday to WDBJ News that the rapidly expanding “Second Amendment Sanctuary” movement could “short-circuit the Democratic process.”
Everytown’s Eric Tirschwell expressed concern the Sanctuary movement in Virginia and elsewhere might result in genuine harm.
“These resolutions could have, and threaten to have, a chilling effect on people who might otherwise use, or take advantage of gun safety laws to try to prevent harm, like a suicide, a homicide or even a mass shooting,” Tirschwell said during an interview.
Dozens of counties in Virginia have declared themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” since Democrats took control of the state’s General Assembly for the first time in many years. Democrats, led by anti-gun Gov. Ralph Northam, immediately began promoting all kinds of gun control schemes immediately after the election results were announced last month. It was those highly-publicized announcements that prompted the Sanctuary movement.
The Everytown Action Fund reportedly spent $2.5 million to help get Democrats elected last month, to push gun controls.
What is happening in Virginia is part of a larger movement, especially in the West. Sanctuary counties have been established in Kansas, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, Texas and Alaska. There are also some Sanctuary counties in Texas and even Maryland. Ten cities in Rhode Island are also reportedly on board.
In a separate report, WDBJ News quoted Philip Van Cleave, head of the Virginia Citizens Defense League stating, “It’s people saying no, we’re tired of this.
“Leave our guns alone,” Van Cleave said, “don’t come after us. It’s just that they’re fed up and now that there’s a chance it will happen, that was the final straw that activated that base. And this is powerful. People are passionate about this.”
Writing at the Washington Examiner, veteran political columnist Paul Bedard observed, “Since the Nov. 5 election that gave Democrats control of Richmond, an “organic,” pro-gun movement has prompted the governments of 86 of Virginia’s 95 counties, as well as 15 towns and cities, to adopt some type of sanctuary language, putting Gov. Ralph Northam and other liberals on notice that their gun control plans aren’t welcome.”
Two national gun rights organizations have weighed in. The Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms issued a joint statement Friday, declaring their support for the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement, especially in Virginia and Illinois. They singled out the Virginia Citizens Defense League and Illinois State Rifle Association for efforts in their respective states.
“We stand with these counties in their defense of the Constitution against anti-rights extremism disguised as common sense,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb.
CCRKBA Director Mark Walters, nationally syndicated host of Armed American Radio added, “Gov. Ralph Northam and General Assembly Democrats have decided to pay back billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his gun confiscation lobby, making their first order of business to be massive infringements on Second Amendment rights.”
