While several of Virginia’s congresscritters are calling for Second Amendment Sanctuary counties in the state to be stripped of state funds or to have the National Guard brought in to enforce new gun control laws, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is instead offering veiled threats of “consequences” for sheriffs in Second Amendment Sanctuary counties unless they enforce whatever gun control bills he signs into law.

When asked by a reporter if local governments would face retaliation for declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, Northam responded, “There’s not going to be retaliation. That’s not what I’m about. I’m about making Virginia safer.” Northam continued, “If we have constitutional laws on the books and law enforcement officers are not enforcing those laws on the books, then there are going to be consequences, but I’ll cross that bridge if and when we get to it.” Northam did not offer specifics on what the potential consequences would be.

Funny how just a week or so ago the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement was “purely symbolic” according to gun control activists. Now that more than 80 counties and cities in Virginia have declared themselves safe havens for the right to keep and bear arms, they’re singing a very different tune. Too bad for the anti-gun crowd that Second Amendment supporters aren’t gonna dance to their song.

Huge crowds continue to turn out for Second Amendment Sanctuary votes, including a massive turnout in Rockingham County on Wednesday evening.

#2A publi hearing in Rockingham! Traffics backed up so far the supervisors can’t even get in. Hell of a crowd! pic.twitter.com/eImUmjwC8v — Mark Obenshain (@MarkObenshain) December 12, 2019

According to WSHV-TV, the packed gymnasium at Spotswood High School was full of supporters of the Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution, with only a handful of opponents on hand as supervisors unanimously approved the measure.

The vote came after a public comment period was held at Spotswood High School on Wednesday night. The meeting was packed with supporters of the decision. A large amount of speakers support the resolution, while some spoke against it. Before and during the hearing, there were significant traffic delays in the area around the high school. According to the resolution, the Board of Supervisors “expresses its continuing intent to uphold, support and defend all

rights protected and guaranteed by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Constitution of

the United States.”

The bluster on the part of anti-gun politicians in Virginia is a tactical mistake on their part, but I think they’re too invested in their gun control agenda to realize it.

Just as Nancy Pelosi finds herself stuck with an increasingly unpopular impeachment process, Governor Ralph Northam is going to find out that the gun control proposals he’s championing aren’t nearly as popular as he thinks they are. It’s one thing to poll voters on the broadest strokes of a gun control law, but as voters learn the devious details of his proposed gun ban, universal background check law, red flag law, and more, support is going to drop.

Northam and newly elected lawmakers believe they have a mandate for gun control, but the 84 counties and cities (according to the Virginia Citizens Defense League) that have passed resolutions in opposition are a clear demonstration that support for these proposals is limited to the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. and other densely populated and deep blue areas of the state.

Threatening counties with punishment for not enforcing unenforceable and unconstitutional laws makes it clear that anti-gun Democrats in Virginia are far more interested in targeting legal gun owners than gang members and drug dealers in the state. Rep. Donald McEachin may want Northam to call out the National Guard to enforce gun control laws in rural counties with low crime rates, but they’d be better off patrolling the streets of Petersburg, Virginia in McEachin’s congressional district.

That city has Virginia’s highest violent crime and homicide rates, but instead of supporting targeted enforcement of the most violent offenders in Petersburg, McEachin and his anti-gun colleagues have made the state’s law-abiding gun owners their top priority.

Virginia gun owners aren’t blind, and we’re not stupid. The veiled threats to Second Amendment sanctuaries from the governor, and the unhinged comments from Virginia’s Democrat members of Congress just proves what gun owners have known all along; this push for gun control isn’t about public safety, but about turning a constitutionally protected right into a privilege.