Page 1 of 1

Grassroots Gun Owners Apply the Heat, as Hundreds of Localities Become 2A Sanctuaries

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:23 am
by NHGF [Feed]
Opinion by Erich Pratt ImageGOA's Erich Pratt testifies against Gov. “Blackface” Northam's gun control.Virginia –  -(AmmoLand.com)- You’re probably hearing a lot of news coming out of Virginia. And with good reason. The new legislature is being sworn in, and major gun control — including confiscation of rifles and handguns — is on the agenda. Michael Bloomberg spent millions of dollars in Virginia to mobilize less than 5,000 voters in strategic districts, and that was enough to change both houses of the Virginia legislature to Democrat control. Democrats say they implemented a strategic “pilot program” in Virginia during the last election. And now, because of their recent electoral success, they plan on expanding the program to a dozen swing states this November. That means your state could be next — and that’s one reason we need to crush their advances in Virginia, to stem their momentum going into other states. In Virginia, the grassroots pressure from GOA and VCDL has been intense, and there’s even one article suggesting that some legislators are reconsidering their support for gun control. Obviously, it’s still too early to tell, as no votes have been cast. Regardless, gun owners can’t let up the pressure. They need to keep up the heat. Is the VA Governor seeking to enforce gun control via Executive Order? Gun Owners of America broke the story that exposed Governor “Blackface” Northam’s anti-gun budget. The Governor is requesting $4 million and 18 new law enforcement officers to enforce a so-called “assault weapons” ban that is not currently law in Virginia; and requesting another $3.5 million to enforce a myriad of other infringements — again, all policies which are not law in Virginia. This finding caused an uproar in the gun-owning community in Virginia, resulting in lots of media attention and four very packed legislative budget hearings across the state where gun owners loudly protested the power grab. In a GOA statement issued prior to my testimony at the legislative budget hearing, we challenged officials to answer the questions that gun owners want to know: Is this money [in the Governor’s budget] going to be used for the gun confiscation that, in November, the Governor said he was considering? [Or] could the Governor be planning to use that money to enforce his gun control agenda through executive order? And given that possible scenario, would legislators support a budget amendment preventing him from doing that? You can see the testimony here.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/BX7K1f9dOUI
GOA has also been working alongside the state group, Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL):
  • Together we have answered the anti-gun Attorney General of Virginia who, despite supporting sanctuaries for illegal aliens, issued a terse letter opposing Second Amendment sanctuaries.
  • Both groups have mobilized gun owners into packed legislative hearings to protest the gun control in the Governor’s budget.
  • And GOA has assisted VCDL, which has done the bulk of the work in getting people into Board of Supervisor meetings, resulting in over 90 percent of Virginia counties declaring themselves to be 2A sanctuaries.
As we have reported in earlier alerts, GOA is working in other states to get localities to declare themselves as sanctuary counties. Currently, more than 400 localities have declared themselves to be 2A sanctuaries across the country — and over 100 of them are in Virginia. You can view GOA’s Fact Sheet on this matter — and find a draft sanctuary resolution to give your local officials — by going to GOA’s Action Page for Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinances. In Liberty, Erich Pratt
Senior Vice President
Follow me on Twitter: @erichmpratt P.S. Don’t forget to register to vote if you have not already done so. And if you’ve let your membership lapse, make sure to renew your membership in Gun Owners of America today for only $20! About Gun Owners of AmericaImage GOA was founded in 1975 by Sen. H.L. (Bill) Richardson (now retired). The GOA Board of Directors brings over 100 years of combined knowledge and experience on guns, legislation and politics. GOA’s Board is not satisfied with the “status quo.” Americans have lost some of our precious gun rights and we want them back! This is why GOA is considered the “no compromise” gun lobby. From state legislatures and city councils to the United States Congress and the White House, GOA represents the views of gun owners whenever their rights are threatened.