A Crucial Week Ahead For Virginia's 2A Sanctuary Movement

After a whirlwind week that saw more than twenty Virginia counties declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, we have a few days of calm in the eye of the hurricane before the winds start to pick up again early next week. I’ve had a lot of folks ask why one county or another hasn’t adopted a resolution yet, and for the most part, the answer is that they haven’t held a board of supervisors meeting since the movement began picking up steam.

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WSLS-TV has been keeping track of the counties discussing and voting on resolutions in the coming weeks, and it’s pretty accurate and up to date, though not entirely so. The best thing to do if you’re a Virginian is to check your county’s website or call the county office and ask when and where the next supervisors meeting will be, but according to the TV station more than 30 counties and communities will be discussing and/or voting on resolutions in the next seven days.

I suspect most of the counties will easily pass their resolutions, but there are a couple of counties and one town in more rural parts of Virginia where the vote could be close, and may even go against the resolution.

Radford City Council is expected to vote on or discuss a Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution Monday, December 9th, and I’ll be very curious to see the outcome. Radford is a college town, albeit a small one. Radford University has about 8,500 students enrolled, while the town itself is home to about 16,000 residents. While I have no doubt that supervisors in the larger Montgomery County area where Radford is located will vote in favor of a resolution at their supervisors meeting on December 16th, I’d be very pleasantly surprised to see a college town vote to make their community a safe haven for the Second Amendment.

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Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend the Radford City Council vote on Monday because I’ll be in Buckingham County for the board of supervisors meeting where a Second Amendment Sanctuary vote will likely take place. I ran into a gentleman at the grocery store the other night who recognized me and told me he’d be at this meeting as well, so there’ll be at least two of us. Actually, I expect quite a few Second Amendment supporters to be on hand. As pictured above, one of the local convenience stores on the main drag has been advertising the upcoming board of supervisors meeting on its signboard, which is actually a really great way of getting the word out.

I’ll also be in Farmville, Virginia on Tuesday for the board of supervisors hearing, though no vote will actually be taken that day. The board of supervisors are actually holding a special meeting devoted entirely to the issue on at the Prince Edward County high school gym, and while I expect a big turnout when that takes place on December 17th, I’m curious how many folks show up next week even without the Second Amendment Sanctuary on the agenda.

There’s also a special vote on Wednesday, December 11th in Fluvanna County that’s been moved from the tiny courthouse meeting room where the supervisors ordinarily meet to Central Elementary School, which will allow for a bigger crowd. Based on the crowd I saw there for the regular board of supervisors meeting earlier this week, I wouldn’t be surprised to see 500 or more show up next Wednesday.

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There are four counties voting or discussing on Tuesday, December 10th that I’m a little concerned about. In order of increasing concern, they are:

  • Prince William County
  • Floyd County
  • Nelson County
  • Spotsylvania County

Prince William County’s supervisors are likely to pass a resolution, but the incoming Democrat majority has already declared they’ll repeal it once they get into office. While the resolution may be short lived if it’s approved by the current supervisors, a large turnout by residents in support of the resolution would send a message to those newly elected supervisors.

Floyd County is home to the wonderfully eccentric town of Floyd, Virginia, which every summer turns into a jam band and bluegrass festival destination. Floyd, Virginia is definitely a liberal outpost in a rural red county, and while the vibe there is much more 60s hippie than this decade’s progressive authoritarianism, I doubt there are a ton of Second Amendment supporting city residents, though I have no doubt there are some there. Still, I’m pretty sure there’ll be enough support on the county board for the measure to pass.

Nelson County is home to a lot of Virginia wineries, breweries, and distilleries, which I would hope would lead to a strong “leave me alone” attitude towards government overregulation. It’s northern side is also an exurb of liberal bastion of Charlottesville, which causes me some concern, but I do expect the measure to pass there as well.

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Spotsylvania is where I really start to get concerned. I left northern Virginia for the Farmville area almost seven years ago, but for the first year and a half I actually still did Cam & Co. from Alexandria, Virginia. I rented a 9×9 room in a townhouse that I stayed in during the week, and drove home every weekend and a few single nights each month. Each time I did, I got off the interstate as soon as I could take the back roads, and that was Exit 130 just north of Fredericksburg in Spotsylvania County. I’ve seen the waves of new developments spread across the fields until they butt up against the protected Civil War battlefield sites where tens of thousands of Americans died fighting each other. I’ve watched Spotsylvania become an established suburb of Washington, D.C., 50 miles to the north, and while I expect a good turnout from gun owners, I’m not as sure about the support of supervisors.

I have that same concern about Fauquier County’s vote on Wednesday, December 10th. Home to Clark Bros., one of the state’s most venerable ranges and gun stores, it’s also home to rapidly expanding corridor stretching northeast from Warrenton towards the nation’s capitol 50 miles away.

The more of these exurban counties end up supporting resolutions, the better and stronger the Second Amendment movement will be as we head into the legislative session in January. By this time next week, I suspect we’ll have blown by the 50% mark in terms of the number of Virginia’s counties declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, and be well on our way to 75 percent of the state. Hopefully those numbers include a few of the DC suburbs and exurban counties, but right now I’m most concerned about the vote in Spotsylvania.

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