Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has proposed an increase of $250,000 for the Corrections Special Reserve Fund in anticipation of jailing gun owners once he passes gun control legislation.
The $250,000 is to provide for the “increase in the operating cost of adult correctional facilities resulting from the enactment” of Northam’s gun control legislation, with $50,000 appropriated to each of Northam’s five major gun-control measures, the bill’s text states. These five measures include passing “red flag” laws, ban vaguely defined “assault firearms,” prohibit teaching children from accessing “unsecured firearms,” “prohibit possession of firearms for persons subject to final orders of protection,” and pass universal background checks.
Northam’s proposal has sparked a massive backlash that some fear would lead to civil war in the commonwealth because much of the citizens would refuse to willingly give away their firearms, resulting in threats from Democrats to send in the National Guard to enforce the laws.
As a result, 90 percent of counties in Virginia have passed Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions.
Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins told “Fox & Friends” on Dec. 11 that he would deputize thousands of residents if the state’s lawmakers pass strict gun control legislation.
“They will be properly vetted through a normal process. Everything from normal background checks that we do for other deputy sheriffs as well as psych [evaluations]. It’s not just a blanket policy of swearing-in anyone who is interested,” he said.
Virginia lawmakers will hear the first of several proposed gun control bills on Jan. 13.
Other counties across the country have passed Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions, including Florence County in Wisconsin, which said it passed the resolution after Veteran’s Day to send a message to politicians to “keep your hands off our guns.”
The resolution gives Florence County sheriff Dan Miller the ability to “exercise sound discretion to not enforce against any citizen an unconstitutional firearms law.”
“I think it’s a great thing,” Miller said. “It sends a message that all of Wisconsin is not exactly the same. We have some different beliefs up north. We tend to be a little more conservative. We like our guns. We believe in God.”
All the heated rhetoric of using the National Guard to round up guns and jail gun owners from Democrats has resulted in increased sales at gun shops in Virginia and North Carolina.
“Sales have definitely been brisk, especially of small, concealable handguns. We also saw a spike in sales of tactical rifles like AR-15s and AK-47s, for which I think we can confidently thank Beto O’Rourke,” said Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, N.C., according to the Washington Examiner.
