Gun-Rights Leader: Virginia ‘Second Amendment Sanctuary’ Movement Just Getting Started

The head of the group pushing Virginia counties to refuse to enforce unconstitutional gun laws, declaring themselves "Second Amendment sanctuaries," told the Washington Free Beacon he has seen an unprecedented groundswell of support that he expects to only grow.

When Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) president Philip Van Cleave spoke with the Free Beacon on Tuesday afternoon, 15 of Virginia's 95 counties had passed sanctuary resolutions; five more joined that night.

"I've never seen anything like this, and I've been doing this for over 20 years," he told the Free Beacon. "It's a sleeping giant that had been pretty much not paying attention to politics, and now they're awake, and now they're flooding these sanctuary county hearings. Flooding them."

Sparked by Democrats' capture of the Virginia legislature three weeks ago, the sanctuary movement has already passed resolutions similar to VCDL's model in nearly a quarter of the state's counties. The movement could give newly elected Democrats from more moderate jurisdictions pause when considering new gun control bills—especially the confiscation plan supported by Governor Ralph Northam (D.). The sanctuary proposals could also set up a showdown between state and local officials if the former adopt new gun bans or a confiscation scheme.