A newly introduced bill in the West Virginia Senate offers a twist on the Second Amendment Sanctuary legislation that’s been considered (and in some cases, adopted) by many red-state lawmakers in recent years.
Most, if not all, Second Amendment Sanctuary bills contain a provision that any future laws adopted by state or federal government that infringe on our right to keep and bear arms will not be enforced by law enforcement under the jurisdiction of the sanctuary location. West Virginia’s Second Amendment Reaffirmation and Protection Act, on the other hand, says that when and if federal gun control laws are struck down in the future, West Virginia state agencies, counties and municipalities would be prohibited from enacting or enforcing any law that tries to replace the federal statute no longer in effect.
Protects Gun Owners: Individuals and businesses would not face prosecution, fines or penalties for possessing firearms or accessories that would no longer be federally restricted. Federal Firearms License holders and manufacturers would retain full rights to produce and sell items no longer restricted.
Restricts Law Enforcement: State and local police would be prohibited from assisting federal agencies in enforcing any repealed or deemed “unconstitutional” firearm restriction. Violations could result in administrative discipline, fines, and loss of state funding.
Private Lawsuits Allowed: Citizens could sue state officials or agencies they believe are enforcing illegal firearm restrictions and would be entitled to damages and attorney fees if they prevail.
The bill is essentially anticipatory legislation — it prepares for scenarios that haven’t happened yet but suggests senators expect potential changes to federal gun law at the national level in coming years.
The bill declares that “the right to keep and bear arms is a natural, God-given right recognized — not granted — by the Constitution” and states that “West Virginia stands as a bulwark against any future federal or state infringement.”
I’m happy to see this legislation, even though it’s more symbolic than substantive. West Virginia already has a strong firearms preemption law that precludes political subdivisions from enacting their own gun control measures, and if there were enough votes in the state legislature replace a federal gun law that was repealed or struck down, there’d almost certainly be enough support to repeal the Second Amendment Reaffirmation and Protection Act while lawmakers were at it.
Still, there’s nothing wrong with showing support for our right to keep and bear arms, especially at a time when Democrats in West Virginia’s sister state are moving full speed ahead towards violating the Second Amendment in a number of ways. In fact, I wonder if this isn’t at least partially an attempt to woo Virginians to move across the border to a place where our 2A rights are still respected, instead of being assaulted.
Speaking of Virginia, today was the Virginia Citizens Defense League’s annual Lobby Day. A plumbing emergency derailed my attempt to make it out to the statehouse, but from what I can tell attendance was up from the past year or two, but still nowhere near the tens of thousands of gun owners and Second Amendment supporters who made it to Richmond for the 2020 lobby day.
Virginia Democrats have already unveiled nearly 30 bills strongly opposed by VCDL, and the filing deadline isn’t until January 23. From local reports, it seems that gun sales are booming ahead of the Democrats’ coming crackdown on our Second Amendment rights, so those Virginians who aren’t planning on relocating to someplace more 2A-friendly like West Virginia appear to be stocking up while they still can.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights, even as they start to see that maybe we had a point.
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