On February 10, the Lynchburg, Virginia City Council voted to reaffirm the city’s Second Amendment sanctuary status, illustrating an emerging pattern in which the battleground to affirm and protect Second Amendment rights has materially moved to the municipal level, which we will lay out in this article.
The city’s Tuesday resolution, which was approved in a 6-1 vote, reaffirms a 2023 resolution of the same nature, which was also adopted by other localities. It is a direct response to the legislature’s aggressive push of dozens of anti-gun bills in the new legislative session, including an “assault weapons” ban and possible buyback, that were eagerly signed by the state’s new governor, Abigail Spanberger.
The reaffirmation is intended to “send a message to Richmond that we disapprove of the direction they’re going,” according to council member Chris Faraldi. The statute is largely symbolic as Virginia Code broadly preempts (overrides) local governments from adopting or enforcing laws that contradict state law. However, the city has moved to remove funds from measures to restrict Second Amendment rights and oppose infringements with legal actions.
Dr. Sterling Wilder was the sole council member to vote against the resolution.
Lynchburg, Virginia, is only one municipality of a growing number across the nation that are taking up the fight for Second Amendment rights. In 2025, a grassroots movement resulted in 14 (16 to date) New Jersey municipalities voting to refund all or most of the state-mandated portion of the municipal fee ($150) for a permit to carry application. We are tracking each instance on our site, and more municipalities will consider similar measures this year.
In August of 2025, interim Sheriff of Wythe, Virginia, Anthony Cline, seemingly copied this approach and communicated that his office would no longer be collecting the administrative fees normally associated with concealed handgun permit applications.
In January, this publication interviewed Georgia State Senator Colton Moore, who was responsible for introducing and passing SB204, which allows an individual aggrieved by an ordinance or law that violates the state’s preemption on firearms laws to sue the municipality directly – a measure that was approved in a party-line vote. In contrast to Virginia, Georgia law largely upholds Second Amendment rights, while it is densely populated, liberal cities that have passed unconstitutional gun control measures.
This publication is aware of many other similar measures being prepared, considered, or are soon to be introduced at municipal levels around the country, often by grassroots groups or singular concerned citizens, and we expect this trend to continue to grow.
