gloucester news

Editor-In-Chief Orlando Angelone

Gloucester, VA (Dukes' Dispatch) - It has become a trend in the past month for smaller towns and counties in Virginia to pass resolutions stating that they are Second Amendment sanctuary cities. This comes in the face of an election in November where the Democrats took both the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates.

Gun control is a top priority for the Democrats in Richmond, who plan to discuss it as one of their first issues in the 2020 session. This is a big point of contention between the cities and suburbs, and the more rural areas of Virginia.

So with that, the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors decided to hold a vote on December third to decide whether the county should be a second amendment sanctuary or not.

When the meeting was held, hundred of pro-gun activists an a few dozen anti-gun activists either filled the courthouse or stood outside, and many citizens spoke to the Board about the issue. In total around 40 people spoke.

At the end of the night, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for the resolution, when analyzed, states that the county will ignore any strict gun laws passed by the government in Richmond. This is purely symbolic though, since localities are not allowed to nullify or interpose state law. Which is the fundamental difference between a second amendment sanctuary city and an undocumented sanctuary city. In the case of the undocumented city, they are choosing to not use allocated federal fund. This is constitutional according to late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in his majority opinion in Printz vs United States, stating the Tenth Amendment, which limits the Federal Government's power over the states.

No such restriction is present between a state and its localities though, so Gloucester County has no legal leg to stand on when ignoring gun legislation.