RALEIGH — Three North Carolina counties declared themselves supporters of gun rights this week, adding to the list of so-called Second Amendment sanctuaries across the state and the country.

Commissioners in Lincoln, Surry and Wilkes counties in Western North Carolina voted to defend gun ownership, according to news reports and government documents.

Local government leaders across the country have passed Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions. Many times, the moves are symbolic and show that officials plan to defy state or federal efforts to restrict gun rights, McClatchy newspapers have reported.

In Virginia, several counties and towns officially backed gun rights just before Democrats were set to gain control of the state government on Wednesday, USA Today reports.

The votes this week in North Carolina come after Cherokee and Rutherford counties, also in the mountains, became sanctuaries for gun rights in 2019, according to Asheville's WLOS-Channel 13 and other news outlets.

Near Charlotte, all but one of the Lincoln County commissioners were in favor of a resolution that said it would refuse to "enforce any new restrictions on gun ownership," according to Charlotte's WSOC-Channel 9.