Virginia's Democrat-led state government is set to enact the toughest package of new gun laws in a generation this month. The backlash, in one of the nation's most pro-gun states, could impact the 2020 election.

Thirteen years after a gunman terrorized the campus of Virginia Tech, killing 32, and just a year after a gunman in Virginia Beach stormed a municipal building taking 12 lives, gun safety advocates are celebrating the legislation as vindication of years of public outcry and Democratic leadership.

MORE: Gun control bills passed Virginia despite show of force from opponents

"This is the final sea change of everything we've worked for and been advocating for," said Catherine Koebel, a Blacksburg native, mother of two and volunteer activist who's spent the last decade pleading with state lawmakers to do something about gun violence.

PHOTO: Catherine Koebel of Roanoke, Va., calls the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre a 'breaking point' that resulted in years of local advocacy for more stringent gun safety measures. (Matthew Seyler/ABC News) More

In the coming weeks, Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, is expected to sign legislation placing new limits on handgun purchases; establish a "red flag" procedure to take firearms from people deemed a threat; allow localities to restrict firearms in public spaces; and expand background checks for gun sales.

"I would almost call it a 'blood price.' Like, we paid the price; we buried our dead; you owe us," Koebel said in an interview with ABC News at her Roanoke home. "You owe us these changes so that we can at least go to sleep at night knowing that it is a little less likely again."

PHOTO: Law enforcement Sheriffs Hank Partin of Montgomery County, Va., and Richard Vaughan of Grayson County, Va., support 'Second Amendment Sanctuary' declarations in their communities. (Matthew Seyler/ABC News) More

But the dramatic policy shift is not sitting well with many Virginia gun owners from across the political spectrum.

In January, more than 20,000 Virginians turned out in protest at the state capitol in Richmond. And, nearly every Virginia county has voted to declare itself a "Second Amendment sanctuary" for guns, in opposition to the new laws.

"It's basically a statement from a jurisdiction that passes sanctuary status that we do not like those bills," said Sheriff Hank Partin of Montgomery County, which is home to Virginia Tech. "A lot of folks feel like their defense mechanisms are being taken away from them."

Partin and neighboring Sheriff Richard Vaughan of Grayson County, both Republicans, won't say whether they'll refuse to enforce the state's new gun laws. But many gun owners are hoping they'll do just that.

"There are people that will say to me, 'sanctuary -- I will be safe. If you just pass this thing, they won't be able to prosecute us,'" said Chris Tuck, a criminal defense attorney in Blacksburg and former Republican chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. "But we do not have the authority to say they wouldn't be prosecuted."

PHOTO: Chris Tuck, criminal defense attorney and former Republican chairman of the Montgomery County, Va., Board of Supervisors, opposes 'gun sanctuaries' because, he says, they send the wrong message. (Matthew Seyler/ABC News) More

Tuck, who opposed "sanctuary status," brokered a compromise resolution in his final act as chairman late last year.

"I was going to be truthful with people, and unfortunately, in this day and time, it seems like it's acceptable for politicians not to be truthful," he said.

Montgomery County ultimately rejected the "sanctuary" label but declared support for the Second Amendment in a formal resolution passed by the board.

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