Several counties, including Shenandoah and Warren counties in Virginia, refuse to enforce Governor Spanberger’s unconstitutional gun laws.
All gun restrictions are unconstitutional because they defy the Second Amendment by doing exactly what our founding fathers said can’t be done, written unconditionally in 27 words – that is, by infringing upon the right to keep and bear arms. You can’t name me one gun law that doesn’t infringe on the right to keep and bear. Left-wing gun-grabbing governors and state legislatures know that they are violating the Constitution when they enact gun laws. The ATF understands that it’s violating the Second Amendment by creating restrictive policies. They simply don’t care because there are no consequences. So, you may ask how they can get away with it? The answer: lack of consequence.
Let’s look at the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen case. This particular case was fought in the courts for seven years in New York State. The case was a result of New York doing exactly what Virginia is doing right now: implementing unconstitutional gun laws and violating the rights of New York citizens. The Bruen case came along and squashed several gun laws that had been in place for decades, but what did the originally appointed governor, Kathy Hochul, do after her defeat in the court? Eight days after the decision in Bruen, Kathy Hochul signed into law the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, which was another set of equally or worse unconstitutional gun laws.
Was there accountability for these actions? Absolutely not. There are no provisions in place to hold these lawmakers accountable. Which means they can keep gun owners and gun rights groups in court for extended periods of time, defending the Second Amendment and fighting laws that should have never been signed in the first place. Then, as soon as the laws are deemed unconstitutional by a court, they enact more laws and start the process all over again.
So, what do we do when these state legislatures violate our God-given rights? Well, we support our state and national gun rights organizations so they can fight these tyrants in court, because we must. That’s necessary, but we can also encourage our lower-level elected employees to do the right thing. Remember, our sheriffs, mayors, representatives, and city council members are all elected. And we owe it to our founding fathers to hold them accountable for enforcing unconstitutional legislation.
The new Virginia governor has recently gone so far overboard with gun laws and a blatant disrespect for her constituents that county leaders had to step in and block her by refusing to enforce the new gun legislation that she thought she could get away with.
Top prosecutors for Powhatan, Pulaski, and Spotsylvania counties also announced non-enforcement policies.
The new laws in Virginia include:
- A ban on the future sale, purchase, importation, manufacture, or transfer of so-called “assault firearms” and standard-capacity magazines exceeding 15 rounds, effective July 1.
- A prohibition on the purchase of certain commonly owned firearms by legal adults between the ages of 18 and 20.
- Expanded restrictions on where lawfully permitted individuals may carry firearms on public property.
- New criminal statutes targeting so-called “ghost guns” and imposing additional storage mandates on lawful firearm owners. “Ghost guns” are firearms assembled by individuals using unfinished parts, kits, or with 3D printers that lack serial numbers. In other words, homemade guns, just like we have done since the time America was founded. The gun grabbers have decided that because the government can’t track these guns to your front door, they should now be illegal.
It’s not like these lawmakers don’t already know that the laws they are implementing are unconstitutional. They have plenty of previous court precedent, including Heller, McDonald, Bruen, and others. This is not a situation where there’s a chance that these laws could be constitutional. None of it is constitutional, and they know it. They do it for the lengthy process that we are forced to go through to fight them. The process IS the punishment. But what if the governors themselves were personally held accountable for signing such legislation?
Shenandoah County Commonwealth’s Attorney Elizabeth H. Cooper issued a statement on her opinion concerning the new laws:
“I will not be enforcing any code section that violates the United States Constitution, nor the Virginia Constitution,” Cooper states. “In my review, the statutes sought to be established by the Legislature and Governor, do, in fact, completely ignore the intention of the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution, and Article I, Section 13 of the Bill of Rights of the Virginia Constitution.”
The Warren County office has deemed several of the recently enacted firearm laws “facially unconstitutional or constitutionally suspect” under three U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and that enforcing the statutes would violate the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Boards of supervisors for Shenandoah and Warren counties adopted resolutions in December 2019 designating their jurisdictions as Second Amendment sanctuaries. And then in early 2026, dozens of Virginia municipalities declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries.
And as you can imagine, the blatantly defiant governor and the Virginia state legislature are facing several legal challenges from national gun rights groups. The real question is, why should we have to keep spending money and time while our rights are being violated to defend something that was given by God and enshrined into our Constitution by our founding fathers?
Just one of these governors being held accountable through a legal indictment, the threat of jail time, and personal fines would put an end to these unconstitutional laws.
