Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, January 28, 2020

In the November 2019 Virginia elections, Democrats took both houses of the legislature away from the Republicans and vowed to push through harsh curbs on firearms. This has prompted a backlash from gun owners, who are mobilizing in unprecedented numbers.

Last week’s pro-Second Amendment rally in Richmond that turned out an estimated 22,000 people on a cold winter day is just the beginning — and the fallout continues. Journalists complained about the rally’s “whiteness,” with a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist claiming that when armed white men walk the streets of a state capitol, it is nothing less than “domestic terrorism.” Vice tweeted ridiculously that Governor Ralph Northam “declares a state of emergency after armed militias threaten to storm the capitol.”

The rally was entirely peaceful — but it represented a firm response. In the crowd were sheriffs who said they would not enforce new gun laws. This was an implied threat of nullification. An astonishing 91 of 96 Virginia counties have passed “sanctuary” resolutions proclaiming gun rights.

These may be empty gestures; demographic change has made Virginia a solid-blue state. The Old Dominion is run from immigrant- and Yankee-heavy Northern Virginia. A conservative Republican may never win statewide office again.

Some West Virginian legislators have a solution. They issued a call to Virginian counties and cities that oppose rule from Richmond (or more accurately, from Fairfax County), to join West Virginia. It would be sweet revenge to annex conservative parts of Virginia; West Virginia’s secession from Virginia during the Civil War was probably unconstitutional.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice endorsed the plan on Tuesday. “If you’re not truly happy where you are,” he said, “we stand with open arms to take you from Virginia.”

Interestingly, Frederick County already can join West Virginia without new legislation. It has an open invitation that dates back to the 1800s. West Virginia Sen. Charles Trump (no relation to the president) urged the county to accept it.

West Virginians aren’t coveting only Virginia’s territory, they also want one of its best known institutions. Jefferson County Commissioner Josh Compton wrote a letter urging the National Rifle Association to move its headquarters from anti-gun Fairfax County to gun-loving West Virginia. Even some local Democrats expressed cautious support because the move would bring jobs.

All this is happening without much help from Conservatism Inc. It was the Virginia Citizens Defense League that organized the Richmond rally; the NRA “distanced itself” and hasn’t replied to overtures from West Virginia. The allegedly conservative Washington Examiner wrote that Second Amendment sanctuaries are an “affront to the rule of law,” but didn’t mention illegal immigrant “sanctuaries.” In the past, the same author, Brad Polumbo denounced workplace raids by ICE because, though “the rule of law is of course important,” there should be “sensible, compassionate enforcement.” Apparently, law-abiding gun owners don’t deserve the same consideration.

With tens of millions of illegal immigrants on American territory, the “rule of law” is a punchline, not a principle. “Think about it,” wrote Mr. Polumbo, “if conservative localities can just defy any law they want, how can conservative policy ever take effect anywhere liberals want to resist?” That’s easy to answer. Liberals already ignore it, as they do with immigration laws, and conservatives let them get away with it. Leftists have the will to defend their principles. Conservatives mostly don’t. To its credit, the Washington Examiner posted a rebuttal a few days later. “The sheer number of peaceful and civil protesters reinforces the humanity inherent in the gun rights movement,” wrote Kyle Kashuv and Alec Sears.

Many journalists and policymakers don’t see their “humanity.” They want white gun-owners crushed. The question is whether whites can defend their liberties through local institutions. They’re certainly trying, even outside Virginia. Over 85 counties in Kentucky are “Second Amendment sanctuaries.” Some Tennessee counties passed similar resolutions last year.

Counties in Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Illinois passed resolutions even before Virginia’s new legislature was voted in. Rural counties in Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, and Texas are also part of the movement. It was an Illinois prosecutor who started the movement, admitting he “stole” the language from liberals who pass “sanctuary” laws for illegal immigrants. There’s even a Second Amendment sanctuary city in California.

The Los Angeles Times called such efforts “dangerous because it represents a further fraying of the national fabric.” The Times added that “such stances undermine the legitimacy of a democratically elected government and play into the hands of extremists.”

Does the Times really care about “democracy”? In 1994, citizens overwhelmingly voted to save their state from illegal immigration by passing Proposition 187, but a court threw it out and then-governor Gray Davis refused to defend it. Mass immigration is transforming California into an outpost of the Third World, but citizens were powerless to stop it. Military conquest would have led to the same result.

In Virginia, mass immigration turned a once-conservative state solid blue, and Georgia will soon follow. Desperate Americans elected Donald Trump to stop mass immigration. He has acted timidly: There is no tax on foreign remittances, no “powerful” wall, and no executive order on birthright citizenship. When he does do something, a judge usually says no, and the White House submits.

Some of the furthest reaching changes in America were decreed by judges. What kind of “democracy” is this?

The federal government subsidizes replacement migration by funding refugee resettlement. President Trump tried to give states and localities the right to refuse refugees, but once again, a federal judge overruled him. This may not have mattered. Although Texas said it wouldn’t accept refugees, most other states said they would. This includes “red states” with Republican governors, including, incredibly, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised; Governor Justice is a former Democrat who switched parties after the 2016 election. Once enough refugees turn the state blue, he could always switch back.

It’s heartening that counties are defying tyranny by declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, but there’s an easy liberal solution: ship in enough Democrat-voting Third Worlders to change the electorate. Red states such as North Dakota and Tennessee and swing states such as Minnesota and Maine are foolishly accepting refugees. The indispensable red state, Texas, is turning blue, thank to mass Hispanic immigration.

Nationwide, whites are trying to escape this “diverse” blue wave. They are seceding from diverse school districts to create their own. They’re seceding from black-run cities to form new ones. They’re fleeing blue states and cities for more affordable (and conservative) places. They’re trying to expel cities from their states; an example is the movement to kick Chicago out of Illinois. In some places, they’re trying to create new states, such as the State of Jefferson that would be carved out of norther California and southern Oregon.

All this will fail until whites can discuss race. There’s no “magic dirt” that guarantees West Virginia or Texas will remain conservative while the population changes. What’s more, many whites who flee “blue states” will vote for liberal policies in their new homes, just like Hispanic immigrants who vote for the socialist policies that helped make their homelands unlivable.

Economic development can change local politics. Washington D.C. attracted a huge influx of urban professionals, liberal activists, and government workers to Northern Virginia, thus displacing the Virginians who lived there. It also attracted a non-white servant class to work in restaurants and service jobs. That is why proposals to locate federal departments in the Midwest are a colonization project. Just as the English overcame Irish resistance in Ulster by planting Protestant plantations, moving federal bureaucracies to Michigan, Ohio, or Iowa would take sovereignty away from local communities.

If West Virginians and others want to protect their liberties, the ultimate solution would be to stop not just foreign migrants but some internal migration. Today, this is impossible, but in politics the unthinkable can become inevitable. Governor Andrew Cuomo has already said “extreme conservatives” have “no place in the state of New York.” If that’s true, why not declare that “extreme liberals” have no place in West Virginia, Kentucky, or Tennessee?

Leftists are trying to restructure American government. Some Democrat candidates want to abolish the Electoral College, which would weaken states’ rights. Democrats want to give statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, giving them four more seats in the Senate. Puerto Rican statehood would also make it impossible to make English the official language. Many Democrats want to let non-citizens vote.

They are playing for keeps. We should, too.

We should support movements for local control. We should encourage movements by dissatisfied red regions in blue states to break away and join other white, conservative areas. The “rule of law” is already gone in the United States thanks to “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants. We could reestablish it in conservative areas by prosecuting all immigration violations, working with ICE, and requiring E-Verify to ensure that employees are in the country legally.

Finally, white advocates should live, work, and organize in promising communities. The current political system gives rural areas disproportionate power that we should exploit. If you’re already an “out” white advocate, talk about race. If you’re not, get involved with local political groups or run for office.

We thought President Donald Trump would make an opening for nationalists in Washington D.C. itself. We were wrong. The Republican establishment he defeated now owns him, and the “Keep America Great” campaign is no different from what Mitt Romney would have offered, just more boorish. Our future is not in the System’s capital. It’s in the countryside. Move there, work there, organize there. Let’s build power locally so we can survive the occupation or exploit the coming crackup.

It’s not just possible, it’s already happening. Let’s act while we still have a chance to save our people, liberties, and land.