Exercising The Right
AG Claims Second Amendment Sanctuaries “Have No Legal Effect”
The Herald Courier reported on December 20 that Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring issued an advisory opinion that claimed Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions “have no legal effect.”
Democratic State Delegate Jay Jones, who is a proponent of stricter gun-control laws, requested that the state attorney general opine on the issue in the wake of numerous Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions being passed by municipalities and counties throughout Virginia. Jones was incensed that the citizenry would dare to even assert that they have the right to refuse to comply with laws that infringe on their God-given rights, and Jones even went so far as to malign Second Amendment supporters as espousing an ideology similar to that which gave rise to the Civil War. “The bills passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor are binding for our entire Commonwealth and its citizens. The legal precedent we would set by allowing communities to selectively ignore those laws at will is alarming and indicative of the same mindset that nearly one hundred and fifty years ago led this country to dissolve into a civil war,” Jones claimed in his request to the attorney general.
Herring issued an opinion that must have been music to Jones’ ears. Herring based his opinion on requirements in both the state constitution and state code that require local governments to comply with state law. Herring wrote, “These [Second Amendment sanctuary] resolutions neither have the force of law nor authorize localities or local constitutional officials to refuse to follow or decline to enforce gun violence prevention measures enacted by the General Assembly.” Herring even used an oft-repeated trope, blaming any show of support for the Second Amendment as being the work of the gun lobby. Herring issued a statement that summarily dismissed the resolutions and disparaged the patriots behind them, saying, “When the General Assembly passes new gun safety laws they will be enforced, and they will be followed. These resolutions have no legal force, and they’re just part of an effort by the gun lobby to stoke fear.”
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