I didn't figure Virginia was going to roll over completely.
On taking office, Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger cast off her "moderate" costume like a pale blond "Incredible Hulk" and went all in on some of the most aggressive gun control legislation in the country (Minnesota said "Hold my Kombucha" - but that'll be another article altogether).
Some of Virginia's counties are picking up on the whole "checks and balances and limited power" thing; Spotsylvania County is drawing the line:
My good friend and fellow Oath Keeper, Commonwealth Attorney Ryan Mehaffey is supporting our resolution declaring Spotsylvania County a 2A Sanctuary county.
— Andrew "Drew" Mullins (@realDrewMullins) May 16, 2026
We will not comply with Governor Spanberger’s infringement on our unalienable Constitutional rights pic.twitter.com/XckrpFKNV0
The Commonwealth’s Attorney for Spotsylvania County, Va., said he would not enforce new bans on modern semiautomatic weapons signed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
In the first of what I suspect will be several cases of counties slamming the door on enforcement of the Democrats' ban while we wait for the Federal court system to kill them off on post-Heller, McDonald, and Bruen grounds, the county is declaring itself a sanctuary:
Pro-Second Amendment organizations sued to have the bans struck down as unconstitutional minutes after Spanberger signed the relevant bills into law Thursday evening. Commonwealth’s Attorney G. Ryan Mehaffey wrote a letter Friday to Spotsylvania County Sheriff Roger L. Harris, citing Supreme Court decisions as the basis of his belief that the law couldn’t be “lawfully enforced.”
And as we've noted in the recent past, there's a lot less sympathy for gun grabbers at the federal level in this administration than we've been used to since, well, 2008.
See you in court! 👉🏽👉🏽 👉🏽 pic.twitter.com/lL37OTUOXH
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) May 15, 2026
Dhillon meant what she said; the petition printer has been rumbling merrily away:
The Virginia Democrat signed the legislation, SB 749, into law Thursday despite the General Assembly rejecting her amendments to the bill, claiming that the gun ban would “protect families.” The National Rifle Association announced its federal and state litigation with a post on X and a press release, with the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition following suit Thursday...“As promised, we are taking Abigail Spanberger to court. Throughout the legislative session, the NRA and our members fought Richmond’s radical gun control package tooth and nail,” NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford said in a statement. “We made it clear that this extreme anti-gun proposal, which bans the new purchase of commonly owned firearms and standard capacity magazines in the Commonwealth, is a blatant violation of Second Amendment rights and an affront to landmark Supreme Court cases.”
And the National Rifle Association is taking a solid step on its path back from corruption and irrelevance by getting into the game as well:
Today, the National Rifle Association announced the filing of a state lawsuit challenging Virginia’s newly enacted bans on “assault firearms” and magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds.
The bans were signed into law earlier today by Governor Spanberger. The “assault firearms” ban criminalizes the purchase, sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of a wide range of commonly owned semiautomatic handguns, shotguns, and rifles—including the AR-15, the most popular rifle in America. The law also prohibits the purchase, barter, transfer, and importation of “large capacity magazines,” defined as magazines capable of holding over 15 rounds of ammunition.
Being a "progressive", Spanberger is responding by invoking "democracy" - and by "invoking", I mean "killing it and wearing it like a meat suit":
The Supreme Court of the United States has now joined the Supreme Court of Virginia in choosing to nullify an election and the votes of more than three million Virginians.
— Governor Abigail Spanberger (@GovernorVA) May 16, 2026
These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in good faith to push back against a…
Nick Freitas is here for it:
Breaking: Virginia Democrats furious, that courts keep referring to some strange document that prevents them from doing whatever they want. https://t.co/QlRhAIelda
— Nick Freitas (@NickJFreitas) May 16, 2026
If you live in a purple-to-blue state (like David and I do here in Minnesota), you need to be paying attention, not only to the authoritarian attempt to gobble up your rights, but to how the good guys and gals fight back.
