December 18, 2019

Supervisors ready to adopt 2nd Amendment stance

Photo/Lawrence Emerson

Part of the crowd outside the Warren Green Buiding last Thursday, Dec. 12, during Second Amendment testimony before Fauquier’s board of supervisors.

— Board Chairman Chris Butler We took an oath to uphold (the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions). We are bound by the four corners of both documents, not just the Second Amendment. We are stating we won’t stand for any infringement of any right protected by these documents.

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Staff Journalist





In response to



> Resolution at bottom of story



Demanding tougher language and a more explicit endorsement of the Second Amendment, some critics called the previous version “watered down.”



No one at the four-hour-plus meeting last Thursday spoke in support of gun-law restrictions.



The board will vote on the revised document at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23, in the Warren Green Building at 10 Hotel St. in Warrenton. The public will not be permitted to comment during the meeting.



Supervisors’ Chairman Chris Butler (Lee District) backs the resolution and expects the five-member board to approve it.



“I think this will pass but won’t speak for anyone,” Mr. Butler wrote in a text Wednesday.



About 2,000 people gathered last Thursday outside the meeting to show their support to keep and bear arms.



The vast majority of speakers urged the supervisors to approve language designating Fauquier as either a “Second Amendment sanctuary” or a “Constitutional County.”



In defining a Second Amendment sanctuary, one speaker said Sheriff Bob Mosier wouldn’t “enforce unconstitutional laws” and Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott C. Hook wouldn’t prosecute those people in violation of such laws.



The board also wouldn’t appropriate county funds to enforce them, the speaker told the board.



Fauquier’s three-page resolution doesn’t include such provisions.



Instead, it states that the board “reaffirms its Oath of Office to support and defend the United States and Virginia Constitutions and stands as a Constitutional County with the overwhelming number of Constitutional and Sanctuary Counties” across Virginia.



So far, more than 90 Virginia counties, cities and towns have adopted similar resolutions, according to published reports.



“We took an oath to uphold” the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions, Mr. Butler wrote in support of the Constitutional County resolution. “We are bound by the four corners of both documents, not just the Second Amendment.



“As I stated before, both documents are our sanctuary. We are stating we won’t stand for any infringement of any right protected by these documents.”



Fauquier’s resolution also “strongly condemns statements of the Governor and members of the General Assembly threatening to withhold funds to localities that support the constitutional rights of their citizens to keep and bear arms.”



Gov. Ralph Northam (D) backs stricter gun laws, which the 2020 General Assembly will consider when it convenes a 60-day session Jan. 8.



On Nov. 5, Democrats won majorities in both the 100-member Virginia House of Delegates and 40-member Senate. Not since 1993 has the party controlled state government.



Contact Don Del Rosso at Don@FauquierNow.com or 540-270-0300.



Fauquier’s board of supervisors on Monday probably will approve a beefed-up version of a resolution that pledges its support of the Second Amendment.In response to testimony from 74 people at the board’s Dec. 12 meeting and hundreds of emails, phone calls and personal conversations, the revised draft document declares Fauquier a “Constitutional County.”Demanding tougher language and a more explicit endorsement of the Second Amendment, some critics called the previous version “watered down.”No one at the four-hour-plus meeting last Thursday spoke in support of gun-law restrictions.The board will vote on the revised document at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23, in the Warren Green Building at 10 Hotel St. in Warrenton. The public will not be permitted to comment during the meeting.Supervisors’ Chairman Chris Butler (Lee District) backs the resolution and expects the five-member board to approve it.“I think this will pass but won’t speak for anyone,” Mr. Butler wrote in a text Wednesday.About 2,000 people gathered last Thursday outside the meeting to show their support to keep and bear arms.The vast majority of speakers urged the supervisors to approve language designating Fauquier as either a “Second Amendment sanctuary” or a “Constitutional County.”In defining a Second Amendment sanctuary, one speaker said Sheriff Bob Mosier wouldn’t “enforce unconstitutional laws” and Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott C. Hook wouldn’t prosecute those people in violation of such laws.The board also wouldn’t appropriate county funds to enforce them, the speaker told the board.Fauquier’s three-page resolution doesn’t include such provisions.Instead, it states that the board “reaffirms its Oath of Office to support and defend the United States and Virginia Constitutions and stands as a Constitutional County with the overwhelming number of Constitutional and Sanctuary Counties” across Virginia.So far, more than 90 Virginia counties, cities and towns have adopted similar resolutions, according to published reports.“We took an oath to uphold” the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions, Mr. Butler wrote in support of the Constitutional County resolution. “We are bound by the four corners of both documents, not just the Second Amendment.“As I stated before, both documents are our sanctuary. We are stating we won’t stand for any infringement of any right protected by these documents.”Fauquier’s resolution also “strongly condemns statements of the Governor and members of the General Assembly threatening to withhold funds to localities that support the constitutional rights of their citizens to keep and bear arms.”Gov. Ralph Northam (D) backs stricter gun laws, which the 2020 General Assembly will consider when it convenes a 60-day session Jan. 8.On Nov. 5, Democrats won majorities in both the 100-member Virginia House of Delegates and 40-member Senate. Not since 1993 has the party controlled state government.Contactat Don@FauquierNow.com or 540-270-0300. Resolution on Right to Bear... by Fauquier Now on Scribd



Member comments

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Constitutional Insurgent · December 22, 2019 at 8:12 am @Mary - if you are “aware”, you wouldn’t have written your previous statement.



Gun control legislation from Leftists have a particular end State in mind. One that is anything but “responsible”.

Jeffersonian American · December 22, 2019 at 7:17 am



https://us20.campaign-archive.com/?u=b28f1d9ea359b104b09836c4c&id=4a03868782



Here is a comprehensive update from across Virginia showing the updated map and the public defense of our Second Amendment Rights gathering in Richmond scheduled for Monday, 20 January 2020:



https://www.vcdl.org/



To those who are advocating that we all take a "wait and see" attitude on all proposed gun legislation already drafted by the incoming Democrat Majority here in Virginia hostile to our Virginia and U.S. Constitutions, regardless of whether Thomas Jefferson uttered these words or if Jeffersonian American simply repeats them here, it remains, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Meanwhile... 112 Counties and jurisdictions across Virginia have joined the list, growing daily, in declaring themselves Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties or Second Amendment "Constitution Counties." While not as strongly worded as it could be, here is the update for Fauquier County:Here is a comprehensive update from across Virginia showing the updated map and the public defense of our Second Amendment Rights gathering in Richmond scheduled for Monday, 20 January 2020:To those who are advocating that we all take a "wait and see" attitude on all proposed gun legislation already drafted by the incoming Democrat Majority here in Virginia hostile to our Virginia and U.S. Constitutions, regardless of whether Thomas Jefferson uttered these words or if Jeffersonian American simply repeats them here, it remains, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

maryjdkns@gmail.com · December 21, 2019 at 8:20 pm Yes I'm aware.. I assume you're aware that a majority of gun owners welcome responsible gun legislation not sure why anyone would object if in fact they want to use them for sensible purposes.

Constitutional Insurgent · December 20, 2019 at 5:57 pm On edit for clarity....not ‘the’ legislation, but numerous bills across the country. Some passed and enforced, some successfully defeated or repealed.

Constitutional Insurgent · December 20, 2019 at 5:05 pm Not sure where you've been Mary, but the legislation to confiscate semi-automatic rifles have been proffered and passed nationwide.



But yes, instead of mobilizing early in the face of un-Constitutional infringement....I'm sure that you would very much like us to wait.



We will not comply, and we will let that be known now, not after it's too late.

maryjdkns@gmail.com · December 20, 2019 at 4:48 pm Let's wait to see what the general assembly legislates. No previous legislation has ever entertained the idea of taking away the guns of law-abiding citizens.. This presumptive strike for a gun sanctuary is beyond idiotic.

bblimber · December 20, 2019 at 4:31 pm Well gee. We all know that a law will solve this problem, so why don't we just pass a law that it's illegal to kill someone. That way no matter how someone might chose to end someone else life, then at least they know the consequences gosh darn it!

Constitutional Insurgent · December 20, 2019 at 2:58 pm



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_gun_use Do your own homework. You can start at the DGU wiki page and learn why the statistics aren’t easy to compile and correlate:

Constitutional Insurgent · December 20, 2019 at 2:54 pm And? It hasn’t been in the interest of the gun control lobby to study defensive gun use......for a reason. Use Google, you get much the same from any reputable source.

Tony Bentley · December 20, 2019 at 2:46 pm Constitutional Insurgent - That's an old survey (1998).





Constitutional Insurgent · December 20, 2019 at 2:04 pm There are plenty of sources to choose from, but the numbers are all in the same general range. This difficulty in an exact number, is due to the fact that a death DIDN’T happen. Not as easy to quantify as I’m sure you can understand. Here’s but one, from Forbes:



“In 1996, 1997, and 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted large-scale surveys asking about defensive gun use (DGU) in four to six states. Analysis of the raw data allows the estimation of the prevalence of DGU for those areas. Estimates based on CDC’s surveys confirm estimates for the same sets of states based on data from the 1993 National Self-Defense Survey (Kleck and Gertz 1995). Extrapolated to the U.S. as a whole CDC’s survey data imply that defensive uses of guns by crime victims are far more common than offensive uses by criminals. CDC has never reported these results.”

Tony Bentley · December 20, 2019 at 10:34 am "More than 35,000 Americans are killed by guns every year in homicides, suicides and accidents. There’s no way to know how many lives might have been saved if this issue had been treated like other major public-health crises. Certainly it is long past time to stop accepting mass shootings, toddlers shooting themselves and other gun violence as inevitable."



Can anyone give me the stats for how many lives guns have SAVED per year?

Gunner · December 20, 2019 at 5:09 am Actually, they are ridiculously easy to get...for criminals. That's the point in my view. The black market is one thing, but the dark web is a whole other ball of wax. You can buy d@*m near anything with no regulation or checks WHATSOEVER. And do it with crypto currency. Yet 'they' want to push more regulations and restrictions on the law abiding and strip us of the means to to protect ourselves. That is one major factor that is never really discussed by society and an inconvenient truth for the left they don't want to admit if they are actually aware of it.

Constitutional Insurgent · December 19, 2019 at 11:46 am Demo - I certainly don't have legislation in mind that would solve the socio-cultural issues underpinning our current problems.....not least because as a Libertarian, I firmly believe that we labor under far to much legislation and regulation to begin with.



But I do know this, continually infringing upon our Constitutional Rights and civil liberties, is not going to help.



Weapons aren't 'ridiculously' easy to get. Period. Contrary to absurd claims from the gun control lobby...I don't have to undergo near the time and labor for other lawful items, as I do for firearms.

Truepat · December 19, 2019 at 10:42 am It's not whether it can be fixed, it's all about those that don't want it fixed. The bright side is that the turn out all over Virginia in support of our Constitution shows that the "silent" majority are no longer silent. That's the last thing they thought would happen or wanted......

DonkeyFarmer · December 19, 2019 at 9:45 am Demo- I actually agree with everything you just wrote. Now how is banning a single type of rifle like an AR15 going to help?

Demosthenes · December 19, 2019 at 8:33 am Truepat and CI -



I would agree that a lot of today's violence stems from a loss of stable families.



But assuming that is true, how do we fix the problem? Can you imagine a way to regulate happy and healthy families? Shall we pass a law requiring every family to have two happy and competent parents who sit down with the kids at dinnertime each night?



Should we mandate universal mental healthcare with regular assessment requirements? Would that even prevent the violence that is taking place now?



Sadly, I don't think government is capable of fixing broken families or broken young men.



But the government can create policies that prevent those broken young men from having ridiculously easy access to weapons.

Constitutional Insurgent · December 19, 2019 at 7:44 am That's exactly correct, Trupat. The breakdown of the family, coupled with the social media-ization...drive-by consumerism and a believed entitlement to instant gratification....are the true causes of any increased violence; not, as the gun control cabal would have one believe - the "easy availability of firearms".

Truepat · December 19, 2019 at 6:43 am The true unfortunate reason behind the majority of shootings was due to a break down in the family unit, you can research the conclusion of each case, I already know. I do find it interesting that the "gun advocates" ignore the fact that city gang violence such as Chicago kills hundreds a year but are never listed. DC is right there with them.

jim goodwin · December 19, 2019 at 5:06 am Glad to see the new language includes "self-defense", though I don't think it needs to be hyphenated.

DonkeyFarmer · December 18, 2019 at 10:28 pm *the *tied

DonkeyFarmer · December 18, 2019 at 10:25 pm Jim- They did everything but name it a "sanctuary county." Instead opting for the term "constitutional county." But there is no legal difference. Why? Because neither of these terms means anything. The county must comply with state law. If you believe the law to be unconstitutional, there is a remedy, the courts.



The 2A sancuary movement might help to temper the gun control laws. But the real way to deal with this is to vote. Let three democrats overplay their hand, get tired up in court, then vote them out. Declaring yourself in violation of the law is not going to do much but make them dig in deeper.

Jim Griffin · December 18, 2019 at 9:51 pm Demo:



Agreed, threaded the needle, just saying no to sanctuary is the right thing to do.



I want all my rights, 2A included, and the Rule of Law, though Jeffersonian American is likely more eager than ever to dissolve Fauquier County government. RGLJA is happy the resolution no longer mentions the sheriff (as it once did).



DonkeyFarmer made good suggestions about keeping guns from the wrong hands. Hope some of it becomes law.

Demosthenes · December 18, 2019 at 9:37 pm Alright Donkeyfarmer, let's see what happens. I'll buy you a drink sometime if you are right.

DonkeyFarmer · December 18, 2019 at 9:35 pm Demon- 2A supporters are not claiming any right is more important than another. You are simply making it up. Repeating your lie is not going to work.

Demosthenes · December 18, 2019 at 8:55 pm BOS: Well done. You faced a lot of criticism from the 2A people in our community, but you chose to create a resolution that says that all of our rights are important. I wasn't crazy about my rep before this, but I feel inclined to vote for his re-election if he seeks it.



Next up: The 2A people will start beating a dead horse about how gun rights are more important than all other rights.



¯\_(ツ)_/¯

philshea · December 18, 2019 at 8:22 pm 1st amendment depends on the 2nd amendment. We know this is mostly symbolic, but so are "sanctuary cities," and looks how that has changed them.

bblimber · December 18, 2019 at 7:07 pm @GUNNER: Give them power over others and they are likely to exploit that power to maintain or achieve more power.



I beg to differ - they WILL exploit their power. Unless of course you hold to the arrogant notion that "we are more enlightened than past generations."





@twotterpilot: By the numbers, hardly a tidal wave. Now as for a true "...tidal wave of death and carnage" How about the one gratuitously promoted by the narrow, parochial interests of PPoA and it's allies.

2015 638,169

2014 652,639

2013 664,435

2012 699,202

2011 730,322

2010 765,651

2009 789,507

2008 825,564

2007 827,609

2006 852,385

2005 820,151

2004 839,226

2003 848,163

2002 854,122

2001 853,485

2000 857,475

1999 861,789

Total: 13,379,894



Gunner · December 18, 2019 at 4:38 pm



Just me, I see your statistics and raise you with genocide; horrific acts which statistically began with the disarming of the population.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genocides_by_death_toll



But I'll make you a deal. Once you, and you desired 'leadership', can ensure repeat, violent offenders are kept of the street instead of repeatedly released back into society, eradicate innocent deaths due to drunk driving, wipe opioid deaths from the nation, generate absolutely perfect doctors who don't kill (for lack of a better word) patients through malpractice, and fill every pool in the nation with concrete, then I would be glad to talk about my guns. That is just a short, a very short, list of incidents that kill more people than active shooters. Do your research, apply critical thought. Don't act on emotion. NRA has nothing to do with it. Stop applying emotion to a logical argument. They are tragic events. I will not take away from that. But you are vilifying millions of people who have committed no crime. Humans can indeed be evil. Give them power over others and they are likely to exploit that power to maintain or achieve more power. Just because someone rises to a position of political influence does not remove human nature. But there are also inherently good people. These are the people who will fight tyranny when it shows its face. Speaking of tyranny....Just me, I see your statistics and raise you with genocide; horrific acts which statistically began with the disarming of the population.But I'll make you a deal. Once you, and you desired 'leadership', can ensure repeat, violent offenders are kept of the street instead of repeatedly released back into society, eradicate innocent deaths due to drunk driving, wipe opioid deaths from the nation, generate absolutely perfect doctors who don't kill (for lack of a better word) patients through malpractice, and fill every pool in the nation with concrete, then I would be glad to talk about my guns. That is just a short, a very short, list of incidents that kill more people than active shooters. Do your research, apply critical thought. Don't act on emotion.

twotterpilot · December 18, 2019 at 4:10 pm Agreed, just me. The numbers speak for themselves. There will be more depressing statistics to add as common sense gun control legislation is thwarted by such resolutions, adding to the tidal wave of death and carnage promoted by the narrow, parochial interests of the NRA and it's allies.

Gunner · December 18, 2019 at 2:59 pm Just me, your point?

just me · December 18, 2019 at 2:37 pm April 1999 Colombine High School - 12

March 2005 Red Lake Senior HS - 7

October 2006 W. Nickel Mines School - 5

April 2007 Virginia Tech -32

April 2012 Oikos University - 7

December 2012 Sandy Hook ES -26

May 2014 UCSB - 6

October 2015 Umpqua Community College - 10

November 2017 Rancho Tehama ES - 5

February 2018 Stoneman Douglas HS -17

May 2018 Santa Fe HS -10



Truepat · December 18, 2019 at 1:14 pm Represent and stand with our fellow Virginians!!

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