Virginia is a Second Amendment powder keg with liberals threatening to light the fuse in January. Democrats take control of both the state’s Senate and House of Delegates next month for the first time in 24 years. Radical-left Governor Ralph Northam is in place and giddy with the prospect of transforming Virginia into a gun-free, progressive utopia.

The left is calling it “common-sense gun safety legislation.” But citizen militias are exploding in numbers across the state and law enforcement officers, military service members, and citizens are vowing: “I will not comply,” to the perceived declaration of “war on gun owners.”

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League characterized the reality facing law-abiding residents there, in a letter he wrote to VCDL members.

Shortly after the November 5 elections, Virginia Dems declared immediate gun control measures would be enacted when lawmakers begin their new session in January.

However, a grassroots backlash has been building ever since, to include an astounding wave of local citizen involvement resulting in 114 state counties and cities declaring themselves gun sanctuaries. A recent map of those sanctuaries (shown in green) was tweeted out by Van Cleave …

Latest sanctuary map with Fauquier and Charles City counties. pic.twitter.com/f7Tl77F3AK

— Phil Van Cleave VCDL (@VCDL_ORG) December 24, 2019

Liberals are unfazed by the growing opposition to their gun control plans. “I don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of,” Northam told reporters, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, issued a warning that the sanctuary resolutions had no legal standing. “It is my opinion that these resolutions have no legal effect,” he wrote.

The Virginian-Pilot tried to minimize the effect of opposition to gun control when they reported in November that “experts say retribution for lawmakers is unlikely once the laws go into effect, and support for stricter gun control will overpower any opposition from pro-gun-rights groups.”

Democrats are expected to pass at least eight gun control measures, as noted by the newspaper and quoted here, to include:

• Requiring background checks on all gun sales and transactions: The bill would mandate anyone who sells, rents, trades or transfers a firearm must do a background check on the receiver of the gun before the sale or transfer is complete. As it stands, gun shops and federally licensed dealers selling at gun shows must perform such checks, but sales that take between two citizens — at a gun show or elsewhere — are exempt.

• Banning “dangerous” weapons and accessories: That includes what gun control advocates call assault weapons, along with high-capacity magazines, bump stocks and silencers, like the one used in the Virginia Beach mass shooting. Northam hasn’t defined what “dangerous” or “assault” weapons he wants to ban.

• Limiting handgun sales to one a month: A similar law was on the books from 1993 to 2012. Buying more than one handgun in 30 days would come with up to a 12-month jail sentence and a maximum fine of $2,500. Those wanting to buy more than one in a month would have to apply for it through the State Police and undergo an enhanced background check.

• Requiring lost or stolen firearms to be reported to police within 24 hours: The punishment for not reporting, according to Sen. Jennifer McClellan’s bill, would be up to a $250 fine.

• Allowing Extreme Risk Protection Orders (“red flag” law): The bill would allow law enforcement and the courts to temporarily take someone’s firearms if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. Several states have passed varying versions of red flag laws.

• Barring people under final protective orders from having guns: Right now, the law only says people who are under final protective orders of family abuse cannot have firearms.

• Making it illegal to ”recklessly” leave loaded, unsecured firearms around children under 18: The bill would raise the age from 14 to 18 and raise the punishment from a Class 3 misdemeanor, which comes with a $500 maximum fine, to a Class 6 felony, which comes with a punishment of 1-5 years in jail and a maxim $2,500 fine, for adults who “recklessly” allow kids to be around loaded, unsecured guns in such a way that might endanger the child’s life.

• Letting localities regulate whether guns are allowed in government buildings: Virginia has a law that says cities and counties can’t make their own rules when it comes to allowing guns in government buildings. One Republican lawmaker filed a bill this year that would allow localities to ban firearms if they had security provisions in place, such as security guards or metal detectors. Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, filed a bill that says localities may regulate guns.

Law Enforcement Today (LET) has been reporting on the furious opposition to the assault on citizens’ 2A liberties and the approaching confrontation. Last week, LET updated readers on the latest developments, with a headline that in part reads: “police, veterans, residents join exploding militia.”

Law Enforcement Today reports being “overwhelmed with hundreds of messages from veterans and active members of the military stating: ‘I will not comply.'”

In fact, the situation in Virginia is having an impact around the country, according to LET. “While Virginia is turning into a whole different kind of ‘battleground state’, we’re receiving messages from people in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, and California saying their own militias are exploding in numbers,” the group reported.

The mainstream media is remaining largely silent about what is going on in Virginia, and according to LET, those who are reporting on it are suffering repercussions in the form of legal threats and cyber attacks. But it is clear that word is getting out and that regardless of the media spin being put on it, citizens are not going to go gentle into that good gun-seizing night.

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Victor Rantala

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Victor Rantala is an Army vet who lives in Minnesota, he is a former intelligence analyst and business owner, and is an NRA Life member who is officially retired but has yet to slow his roll.

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