While most of the headlines surrounding Virginia’s Second Amendment Sanctuary movement involve votes taken by county boards of supervisors or city councils, a growing number of Virginia sheriffs are stepping up to say that they won’t be enforcing any unconstitutional gun control laws that lawmakers in Richmond may pass in the upcoming legislative session.

Amelia County Sheriff Ricky Walker has said he won’t confiscate anybody’s firearms under a “red flag” order, while Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins has vowed to deputize citizens in an attempt to thwart enforcement of any gun bans and other infringements on the right to keep and bear arms.

On today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co., Buckingham County Sheriff William Kidd joins me to talk about the county’s adoption of a Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution, and some of his concerns over the bills we’ve already seen introduced at the state capitol.

Sheriff Kidd says he wasn’t surprised to see hundreds of residents show up at Monday night’s board of supervisors meeting in support of the Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution.

“As a game warden for thirty years before I got elected sheriff, I dealt with a lot of these sportsmen out here and some things you don’t fool with them; you don’t hurt their dogs and you don’t take their guns away. They simply want to be left alone,” Sheriff Kidd told me.

“I’m very concerned,” he continued, “because number one, no way do I want to go around trying to pick up people’s guns. I’ve got guns of my own. I’ve been fooling with them since I was twelve and I’ve never hurt a soul. Professionally I’ve been carrying them for forty-three years, and I’ve never hurt a soul, but it sure was nice to know it was there when I needed it.”

Sheriff Kidd says he has been in contact with at least one other sheriff in the state of Virginia, and he expects many, but not all, of his colleagues will speak up as well.

“In my opinion, the ones that are closer to the major cities aren’t going to say a lot, but the rural ones are going to speak out,” he predicted.

As for Sheriff Jenkins’ idea to deputize citizens, Kidd says he’s been collecting the names of volunteers who’ve offered to help the sheriff’s office since he was first elected more than a decade ago, and indicated that he might take similar measures in the county if need be.

Sheriff Kidd noted that, like many rural counties, Buckingham County doesn’t have a surplus of sheriffs deputies running around to enforce these new gun control laws. He said lawmakers really need to be addressing mental health issues instead of gun control, and expressed his concern over “red flag” proposals, noting that the law would “find you guilty before anything’s done, and no crime’s been committed.”

The sheriff says he’s thought quite a bit about what would happen if a judge orders him to seize someone’s firearms under a red flag order.

“I don’t want to be the guy up there and say ‘hey buddy, this is what happened.’ I really don’t, and I don’t think anybody else does. Maybe the governor can lead the way [and take the guns himself].”

Full disclosure here: I’ve known Sheriff Kidd (who yes, does go by Billy on occasion) for several years now, and I consider him a friend. I know he takes his job and its duties seriously, and that includes abiding by the Constitution. Sheriff Kidd is not a grandstanding politician, but a quiet and reserved man, so when he says he and his deputies have better things to do than to try to enforce unconstitutional gun laws, I take him at his word. I appreciate his time today, and hope to talk with more sheriffs around the state in the days ahead.

Also on today’s program, we have an armed citizen story from Ft. Wayne, Indiana, a catch-and-release problem with criminals in New Mexico, and an east Texas woman in the right place at the right time to save a stranger’s life.

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