Over 100 localities plan to defy Virginia gun laws, one Dem suggests national guard enforcement

More than 100 Virginia localities have passed resolutions stating they will defy state gun laws that they believe conflict with the Second Amendment despite Attorney General Mark Herring’s advisory opinion that such resolutions have no force of law.

Gov. Ralph Northam has warned that local governments will face consequences if they do not enforce these gun laws and one Democrat has gone so far as to suggest that the governor use the national guard to ensure enforcement.

These localities, which are based in rural parts of the commonwealth, are calling themselves sanctuaries for the Second Amendment amid plans from Gov. Ralph Northam to ban the sale of assault weapons and force registration of such weapons already legally owned. Northam said he is not looking to confiscate these weapons through a forced gun buyback, but would not rule out the possibility in the future…

With the list of sanctuaries continuing to grow, Herring warned the localities that they cannot nullify state law. He said that the Virginia Constitution subjects all localities to laws of the General Assembly and that the Code of Virginia establishes the supremacy of state law over local ordinances.

“It is in my opinion that these resolutions have no legal effect,” Herring said in an advisory opinion. “It is my further opinion that localities and local constitutional officers cannot nullify state laws and must comply with gun violence prevention measures that the General Assembly may enact.”…

Michael Hammond, legislative counsel for the Gun Owners of America, a gun rights group, told The Center Square that if Virginia bans these weapons that confiscation is certain either immediately or through the New Zealand two-step process, which first requires registration so that police have a list of names of who has the weapons.

Hammond said that, under the law, the National Guard should not be used for civilian law enforcement unless martial law is declared. He said that GOA will work on crafting legislation that would prohibit the governor from declaring martial law for the purpose of confiscating guns through the National Guard.

“If Northam tries to declare martial law to accomplish violent gun confiscation, the results will be sometimes-violent civil disobedience,” Hammond said…

Read more at The Center Square