Tazewell County, VA — You can’t stop an idea whose time has come.

That’s a lesson we’ve seen hammered home by the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement in Virginia in the last month.

But in Tazewell County, they’ve raised the bar.

On Tuesday, December 10th, the Board of Supervisors passed two different resolutions. The first resolution declared the County to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary. The second promoted the order of militia in the county. When the resolutions passed, the crowd cheered loudly in support of the decision. And they didn’t squeak by–the votes were unanimous, with more than 200 citizens standing by in support.

The militia resolution had already unofficially passed thanks to a poll taken by the county earlier in the month. But Board Chairman Travis Hackworth said that voters kept calling for the county to declare itself a Second Amendment Sanctuary, as well.

Hackworth went on to say that the Board of Supervisors has three lawyers on it. The three lawyers carefully examined some of the other declarations passed by other Virginia counties to make sure that theirs didn’t miss anything or water anything down.

Follow the Money: Funding is a Chokehold

The ‘teeth’ in these bills usually comes down to two things: funding and prosecution. Tazewell County’s resolutions both would eliminate funding for any branch of law enforcement that would infringe on the rights of the citizens to keep and bear arms.

But if the state tried to turn the tables, they could deny the county funding in areas other than law enforcement or even attempt to remove the elected officials standing in their way. Given the threats from Northam and Congressman McEachin this week, those are very legitimate fears.

That is where the militia resolution is in place. County Administrator Erc Young laid out their thought process: “Our position is that Article I, Section 13, of the Constitution of Virginia reserves the right to ‘order’ militia to the localities,” Young said. “Therefore, counties, not the state, determine what types of arms may be carried in their territory and by whom. So, we are ‘ordering’ the militia by making sure everyone can own a weapon.”

If the Governor or any other State entity tires to remove their Sheriff from office for disobeying unjust laws, they’ll face a legally assembled group of armed citizens standing against them.

Concealed Weapons For Everybody!

The militia ordinance also calls for concealed weapons training for any county resident that is eligible to own a gun. Further, it called for the local public school to begin including firearm safety classes.

Just this summer, we bemoaned the sleepy approach Virginia gun owners were taking in light of the threat they were facing. It was hard to watch as Bloomberg poured millions into the election, and we weren’t shocked to see the state flip Blue as a result.

But we are thrilled to see Virginia gun owners fighting back. Nobody is so much as whispering the word “compromise!” They were slow to wake up, but the giant is awake now and will NOT go back to sleep.

You Might Like