Lunenburg Joins Growing Group of Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties

LUNENBURG – The Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last week that declares Lunenburg a “Second Amendment Sanctuary County.” This makes Lunenburg one of over 90 counties or cities that have passed similar resolutions in response to expected gun control measures being pushed by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.

A standing room only crowd wearing stickers in support of the amendment showed up at Lunenburg Courthouse last Thursday. This was the second straight Board of Supervisors meeting where the vast majority of a large audience was there in support of this resolution.

Several audience members, including former and current military personnel, spoke in favor of the resolution, while Trudy Berry said that she was not in favor of the resolution because it “caters to the fear and speculation that the Democrats will take guns away.”

The county officials all were in favor of a resolution in November and wanted county attorney Frank Rennie to draft a document specifically for Lunenburg. Mr. Rennie said that he had studied different resolutions from counties in Virginia and using the best parts of those documents, he put together the Lunenburg version.

The document begins with a preamble that states, “The Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors has received significant input from citizens expressing serious concerns about potential Gun Control legislation that may be enacted by the 2020 General Assembly session. This statement is intended to respond to those citizen concerns.”

“In Lunenburg County, we believe in the rule of law and support the U.S. Constitution,

including the Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment. Each member of the Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors has taken an oath to “support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” The Lunenburg County Board takes the oath of office seriously and actively works to protect all rights guaranteed by both constitutions, including the right for law-abiding citizens to bear arms.”

The resolution body talks about the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution that reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” and,

WHEREAS, Article 1, Section 13, of the Constitution of Virginia provides “that a well

regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.” 

The resolution ends with six points:

1. Lunenburg County is hereby declared a Second Amendment Sanctuary County, wherein the rights of law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for the purposes of lawful self-defense, community defense, sport shooting, game hunting, and gun collecting as protected by the United States and Virginia Constitutions, is part of the fabric of the community since before the founding of the Republic, and is and must be respected, celebrated, and upheld; and,

2. Lunenburg County urges the General Assembly, the United States Congress, and other agencies of State and Federal government not to adopt, accept, or enact any provision, law, or regulation that may infringe, have the tendency to infringe, or place any additional burdens on the rights of law abiding citizens to bear arms; and

3. Lunenburg County expresses its intent to continue to take lawful actions to protect and support the rights of its citizens to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the United States and Virginia Constitutions, and not to aid in unconstitutional efforts to restrict these rights; and,

4. Lunenburg County opposes, in particular, any provision, law or regulation that may impose additional regulatory burdens on its citizens or result in mandates, whether mandatory or practical, to expend additional public funds on enforcement or administration of such laws, or to require the constitutional officers of the locality to do so; and,

5. The County Administrator is directed to cause true copies of this resolution to be forwarded to the County’s representatives in the General Assembly and the United States Congress and to the Governor of Virginia; and,

6. This resolution is effective upon adoption.

The Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors officially adopted the resolution on Thursday, December 12 with a unanimous vote.