Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring is talking tough as dozens of counties adopt Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions vowing not to spend money or time enforcing unconstitutional gun control laws, recently opining to Richmond television station WRIC that the state’s upcoming gun control laws “are going to be enforced and they’re going to be followed.”

“These laws, when they get passed, they’re going to be followed and when you look at the resolutions that are being passed, they’re really just expressions of opposition to these gun safety measure that Virginians have demanded for a long time.”

“When you talk to those who are in law enforcement and really push them a little bit, like a sheriff or a prosecutor and say, ‘So, really? You mean you’re going to allow violent felons to go ahead and purchase firearms?’ No. They back down pretty quickly.”

I would love to know who exactly in law enforcement Herring has talked to and convinced to “back down”, because from what I’m seeing, more Virginia sheriffs are becoming outspoken in their intent to protect the Second Amendment, as my colleague Julio Rosas at Townhall recently noted.

Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins praised the Board of Supervisors for passing a Second Amendment sanctuary provision.

“I remain very optimistic that our General Assembly will not pass the proposed bills. Obviously, if passed, there are many of us willing to challenge these laws through the courts. In addition, if necessary, I plan to properly screen and deputize thousands of our law-abiding citizens to protect their constitutional right to own firearms,” Jenkins added.

I’ve not seen any evidence that any sheriff in the Commonwealth of Virginia has changed their tune on 2A Sanctuary resolutions or ordinances after speaking with the Attorney General, and Herring’s bluster poorly disguises the concern that many gun control activists have towards the Second Amendment sanctuary movement.

It’s funny how for the past three years Democrats in Virginia have been shouting “Resist” when it comes to President Trump, but now that they’re in power at the state capitol they’re yelling at gun owners and county officials to comply.

While Herring continues to insist that these resolutions are meaningless and that gun owners will comply with new laws that ban the possession of their semi-automatic rifles, counties around the state are sending the AG and anti-gun lawmakers a very different message with their Second Amendment Sanctuary votes. Next week we could see several dozen counties and towns pass resolutions of their own, and already nearly half of the state’s counties have declared themselves safe havens for the Second Amendment.

The resolutions and ordinances that we’ve seen introduced and adopted from the Appalachian hills in the southwest part of the state to the salt marshes and sandy beaches of the Eastern Shore are not perfect shields that will protect gun owners from any infringements of their rights. We have a long fight and some dark days ahead of us in Virginia, but these county-level acts of defiance in defense of the right to keep and bear arms do matter. If nothing else, we’re seeing the formation of a new grassroots collective that is hyper-local but interconnected through social media and online activity. And there’s not just one hub; the VAGuns subreddit, the VCDL’s Facebook page, AR15.com message boards, and many other platforms are helping to spread the word and keep activists connected.

Herring is also going to face calls of hypocrisy over his support for legalizing cannabis, despite the fact that it remains a Schedule 1 drug at the federal level. I happen to support that move as well as Second Amendment Sanctuaries, so I’m at least consistent in my desire to expand individual rights at the expense of State power, while Herring is ready to defy federal law at the state level, even as he opposes counties that say they won’t enforce unconstitutional state gun control laws within their borders. It’s the height of hypocrisy, and only goes to show that Mark Herring knows a thing or two about being two-faced as well as being black-faced.