The Board of Supervisors of James City County addressed the gun sanctuary situation. Involved was a resolution making(?) the County a Sanctuary county. Although I did not see the final vote, it was unanimously in favor of the resolution. Here are my observations regarding the commentary leading up to the vote:
- Approximately 500 to 600 people showed for the meeting – 150 inside and 400+ outside. There was a total of 79 speakers, about 80% favored the resolution and 20% were opposed. (Those opposed have to be given credit for stacking the meeting room well ahead of time, getting positions that were covered by cameras, and having the majority of the opening 1 minute comments. Most of those favoring sanctuary were outside but their very presence was substantial and almost all favored the resolution.)
- Those who opposed the resolution were quite consistent. Virtually every one ended their comments with “common sense” gun regulation being necessary and that the gun sanctuary resolution violated the rights of the Virginia legislature to set the rules. The commenters were a diverse group of students, retirees, and some who claimed to have been directly affected by gun violence. (What I found curious was that those who opposed gun sanctuary for their citizen neighbors would likely be ones who favor sanctuary for illegal aliens. Notably, this patchwork of sanctuary for one thing and not another creates chaos for law enforcement.)
- Those who favored the resolution consistently discussed the violations of various amendments to the Constitution, basic facts concerning gun crime and how the proposals in Richmond adversely affected an individual’s ability of self-defense against criminal assault. The idea that the government could seize the property of honest citizens without due process was strongly opposed. As far as I could tell most of the commenters were current or recently retired military and hunters. They favored the gun sanctuary resolution. (What I found interesting was that people outside the meeting were able to use their cell phone to track commenters in real time. Since those outside were virtually all in favor of the resolution, cheers would go up when a good point was made. There were no cheers for those who opposed the resolution.)
- The meeting was very civil. The only animosity shown was by a woman who declared the County supervisors were still fighting the Civil War. She then proceeded to call out a specific supervisor for condemnation and was subsequently admonished for doing so.
At this point, there doesn’t appear to be any specific action associated with the resolution – other than to send it along to Richmond. It remains to be seen what the County sheriff will do. Will he enforce the laws against the gun owning citizenry or simply ignore the laws and leave the State Police to fend for themselves?
I close with the fact that the Chief of Police in Detroit has recommended that his citizenry arm themselves. His argument is simple – the police are understaffed and can’t be everywhere. Detroit, therefore, is more than a gun sanctuary, it is a pro-gun and pro second amendment city.