Tazewell County Virginia passes 2A sanctuary status unanimously, and also passes order of militia

Let me explain how Virginia operates….

No new laws have been passed in Virginia yet. The new legislative session does not begin until January. Right now, what you are seeing is individual legislators pre-filing bills they want to be considered in the 2020 session. At this moment these new bills generally have only one patron, and the first step is each bill will be assigned to a particular committee in either the House or the Senate for consideration. Here these bills will either be passed out to the full floor for a vote or killed for lack of majority support when the committee votes on the bill. In addition, it is in the committee stage that these bills are largely amended—sometimes to be something totally different than what was originally filed. This will all happen during the months of January and February and possibly a portion of March.

There is also a financial issue to watch as these bills percolate through the system. Virginia has a requirement to balance its budget. It cannot engage in deficit spending. Any new laws with criminal punishments require a cost assessment (i.e. the additional cost of arrest and prosecution and punishment arising from the enforcement of the new law) before the law is passed. Once an estimated cost is attached to a bill, then the legislature can only pass the bill if it fits within the overall state budget. A new law that increases the cost of government must find its funding from either a budget cut elsewhere or by increasing the tax revenue forecast (by either a growing economy adding more tax revenue or some form of legislative tax increase, or both).

As far as the localities are concerned…Virginia operates under a “constitutional officer” system. The Virginia Constitution sets forth 5 officials each locality independently elects: A Sheriff, a Commonwealth’s Attorney (prosecutor), a Treasurer, a Commissioner of the Revenue, and a Circuit Court Clerk.

The law enforcement powers are exercised by the Sheriff and the Commonwealth’s Attorney. In addition, incorporated cities (like Richmond, for example), have legislatively permitted police forces which obviously are a part of the local law enforcement function. You also have local town police forces and campus police forces. All of these police forces answer to their local governing bodies (or campus administration). In addition, there are state law enforcement agencies like the State Police and Conservation Police (sometimes called game wardens) who answer directly to state control.

The chief law enforcement officer of each locality (and there are 120 in Virginia) is the Commonwealth’s Attorney. Because he/she is locally elected he/she is not controlled by the state Attorney General. However, they do frequently partner with the Attorney General for some prosecutions (an example would be Medicaid fraud). In addition, the Attorney General handles all criminal cases granted an appeal from a conviction in the local courts to the state Court of Appeals and the Virginia Supreme Court. But with very few exceptions beyond this, each Commonwealth’s Attorney exercises individual discretion in the prosecution of cases.

The Sheriff, as a locally elected official, is also independent—and cannot be controlled by the Commonwealth’s Attorney. He/she exercises their law enforcement function independently. Indeed, despite being the chief local law enforcement officer, the Commonwealth’s Attorney has no power to direct or control the operations of any Sheriff or unelected police agency. Local law enforcement is very much a partnership between the agencies.

Having said this, I want to explain to you that the “sanctuary” issue is far from clear. It is not as simple as just refusing to enforce an enacted law and that is that. Virginia has no history of permissible “executive action” or “executive nullification” that allows the executive branch to ignore the laws passed by the legislative branch. Virginia (like the federal government) has a legal presumption that all laws passed by the legislature are constitutional. If anyone believes otherwise, then the clear process is to bring the matter before the judicial branch via a suit challenging the constitutionality of the law.

If a Commonwealth’s Attorney or Sheriff refuses to enforce a law, then the state government has remedies available to it. A state official could file a “writ of mandamus” which, if the Circuit Court approves, would command the local officer to follow the law—enforceable by the power to punish contempt. In addition, a state official could institute a criminal prosecution against the local official for “malfeasance” (essentially the deliberate failure to execute the office) for which, if the local officer were convicted, the local officer would be removed from office and fined or jailed (or both). Finally, although the locality writes the checks, both the Commonwealth’s Attorney and the Sheriff receive the largest portion of their operating budget from the state (including virtually all salary money). The money is provided by the state to the locality and the locality then spends it to operate these offices. The state could, as a result of a local official refusing to enforce a state law at the urging of a local governing body, conceivably reduce the funding to the locality for all law enforcement functions (a “nuclear option” indeed). Virginia operates on a two-year budget cycle, and this new year will be the year the legislature sets the state budget for the next two years.

I will not attempt to be a prophet and predict what any local elected official will do in the future—particularly when we do not know what the final language of any new law will look like as enacted. What I did want to do here is provide some understanding of the complexity of the issues that Virginia is possibly facing as the new legislative session is about to begin.

 

The definition of the malita at the time was every able bodied man.

 

Ridiculous.

 

Yes sir, well said.

 

Federally illegal, perhaps. Unconstitutional, no. Some states have it written into their own constitution that the elected county sheriff is the chief law enforcement official in his/her jurisdiction. State and/or Federal LE could try challenge them for it, as they would also have jurisdiction according to their respective agencies, but it will be viewed by The People of that county as illigitimate. In a situation where a Sheriff has a mandate from their constituents, the legal power of deputization and a constitutionally authorized militia at their back, such challenges should be made very carefully. Not even the federal govt can dictate the removal of a legitimately elected official. That power rests solely with the voters.

 

Same thing going on here in WA. 2/3+ of our counties are refusing to enforce the newest gun controls passed in 2018. At least one city has declared itself a 'Second Amendment Sanctuary', and Sheriffs have made public vows to resist confiscation. Most notably imo, Sherif Bob Songer of Klickitat County said: "...If they come to take your guns, I'll be standing beside you and I'll call in a bunch of people and deputize them. They are not gonna take your guns without due process. It will not happen on my watch. I will stand there with that individual citizen and prevent that from happening. And if need be, uh, it could get ugly."

 

Who wrote these words? (dangerous words, no doubt)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,

 

More here...

Tazewell County Forms Militia in Response to New Virginia Gun Laws

https://www.firearmsnews.com/editor...6CSTaYn4XHz0V8-QMOr01JXKgFLJKY0PAbKr5XtoJnTWA

 

And what if having firearms does not please the crown?

 

Some good points here regarding the constitutionality of VA's would be gun laws.

 

"No one is going to take your guns away."

 

Is there a list of the proposed regulations in VA somewhere?

 

Unconstitutional and illegal sorta like the California State Guard?

 

The 2020 legislative session begins on January 8, 2020. The vast majority of bills will be filed after the session starts. However, there are a number of bills that have been “pre-filed” for the new session. This link will take you to all of the bills currently proposed:

lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+lst+ALL

The list starts with houses bills (HB#) and then lists senate bills (SB#) and goes multiple pages. The page offers a brief description of each bill (helpful because many of the bills do not deal with firearms). Click the bill you want to look at and it takes you to a page that lists a summary of the bill. The summary is not the language of the bill and leaves things out. To see the actual language click the “full language .pdf.” This will show you what the law would look like if the bill passes as proposed.

Some bills create new statutes out of whole cloth, and some attempt to amend existing statutes. For example, the bill that has gotten the most attention (SB16—a bill to define and then ban “assault weapons”) would amend existing statutes (with the most controversial language at the end of the .pdf file).

In all of the bills:

1. Language in regular type is already existing statutory language that the bill leaves unchanged,

2. Language that is struck out with a line through it is existing statutory language the new bill wants to delete, and

3. Language in italics is new language the bill wants to make law.

 

Thank you very much. I don't live in VA but I travel through there on my way from NC to my property in WV or back to OH to visit family, and I always transport several firearms on those trips. I will read up on those bills to be sure I'm in compliance while traveling, or have to find an alternate route.

 

wow so this right here..........................http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB16 would mean I have to avoid the state of VA entirely when traveling to WV or OH, which will take me hours out of my way.

 

Is that why militias are State militias?

 

I wonder what they are going to do about class 3 weapons? I often travel with a suppressor when going to my property in WV.

 

Please don't confuse them with things like "class 3". "They" don't even know the difference between semiautomatic and automatic.

 

I agree. I just saw mention of a suppressor in that bill under the definition of "assault weapon". Pretty sure a state can't ban them entirely. I could be wrong though.

 

The mention of a silencer in the proposed AW ban bill (Senate Bill 16) comes in the definition of what semi-auto rifles and pistols will be banned. Amongst many other ban reasons, they would be banned if they are capable of accepting a silencer.

Here is the language from the bill defining an "assault firearm"--which all would be banned if the bill passes (with no grandfather clause to exempt currently owned firearms):

A. For the purposes of this section:

"Assault firearm" means:

1. A semi-automatic center-fire rifle that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material with a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 10 rounds;

2. A semi-automatic center-fire rifle that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding or telescoping stock; (ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the rifle; (iii) a thumbhole stock; (iv) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (v) a bayonet mount; (vi) a grenade launcher; (vii) a flare launcher; (viii) a silencer; (ix) a flash suppressor; (x) a muzzle brake; (xi) a muzzle compensator; (xii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a silencer, (b) a flash suppressor, (c) a muzzle brake, or (d) a muzzle compensator; or (xiii) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (xii);

3. A semi-automatic center-fire pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material with a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 10 rounds;

4. A semi-automatic center-fire pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding or telescoping stock; (ii) a thumbhole stock; (iii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (iv) the capacity to accept a magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip; (v) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the pistol with the non-trigger hand without being burned; (vi) a manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded; (vii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a silencer, (b) a flash suppressor, (c) a barrel extender, or (d) a forward handgrip; or (viii) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (vii);

5. A shotgun with a revolving cylinder that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material; or

6. A semi-automatic shotgun that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding or telescoping stock, (ii) a thumbhole stock, (iii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the shotgun, (iv) the ability to accept a detachable magazine, (v) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds, or (vi) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (v).

"Assault firearm" includes any part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert, modify, or otherwise alter a firearm into an assault firearm, or any combination of parts that may be readily assembled into an assault firearm. "Assault firearm" does not include (i) a firearm that has been rendered permanently inoperable, (ii) an antique firearm as defined in § 18.2-308.2:2, or (iii) a curio or relic as defined in § 18.2-308.2:2.

 

So you can buy a machine gun but not a rifle. Fascinating.

 

They don't even know that a suppressor isn't a silencer.

 

https://wset.com/news/at-the-capito...r-new-gun-legislation-national-guard-responds

 

If the Virginia National Guard is anything like the Guard unit I was in the state won't be getting much help there. I didn't know anyone in my small hometown unit who was not a gun owner.