Virginia County Passes Militia Resolution to Prepare for Potential Gun Control Wave
Jose Nino
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As a result of a number of proposed anti-gun bills in Virginia, many of its cities and counties have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries. However, one county went above and beyond by passing a Militia Resolution.
This resolution codifies the establishment and maintenance of a de facto militia in Tazewell county.
Firearms News reached out to the Tazewell councilman Thomas Lester, who is also a professor of American History and Political Science.
Lester argued, “Declaring our county a Second Amendment Sanctuary is a great first step, however, Virginia is unique because of its constitution. Under Article 1 section 13 of the VA Constitution, VA must maintain a well-regulated militia composed of its people to validate its authority.”
He noted that “This is the political subdivision of legislature from which VA politicians derive authority – an authority expressly stated in the VA constitution.”
Lester added the following points about Virginia’s constitution:
This is because the purpose of the militia is not just to protect the county from domestic danger, but also protect the county from any sort of tyrannical actions from the Federal government. Our constitution is designed to allow them to use an armed militia as needed. If the (Federal) government takes those arms away, it prevents the county from fulfilling their constitutional duties. But, this is not limited to just our county, but also as part of a network of sister counties showing solidarity for both Virginia’s, and the American Constitution.
When asked about how the county would prepare residents to be militiamen, Lester explained:
As for the people, our Militia Resolution will be funding firearms safety and training for our county’s citizens, the ROTC and the public school systems – as well as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. These preparations are done to prepare our citizens to be able to become de facto militiamen if need be.
Virginia has middle-of-the-road gun laws compared to other states. However, Democrat’s recent successes at the state level may put the state’s gun policies in jeopardy.
More counties and municipal units will likely follow suit by passing their own resolutions due to the fact that Democrats have full control of the state legislature.
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