Local Hearing Set On Our County Becoming A "Second Amendment Sanctuary"

Should we require a well regulated militia in our County?

I predict there will be a full house at the Spotswood High School gym next Wednesday, December 11, when our local Board of Supervisors will hear public comments at around 7:15 pm on whether to join other counties around the country declaring ourselves a "Second Amendment Sanctuary." The gymnasium will be open at 6:30.

Page, Augusta and other nearby counties have already done so, and the pressure is on to have members for our board of Supervisors do the same.

I grew up on a farm and we used our Winchester 22 rifle whenever needed at butchering time and to help keep various varmints in check. I have nothing against responsible gun ownership for hunting and other legitimate purposes.

I do question the value of our becoming a "Second Amendment Sanctuary," however.  I know the primary argument in favor of being armed is for legitimate "protection." And "sanctuary" has a nice, safe sound to it, a word I really like when it refers to providing safe haven for vulnerable people like refugees fleeing from violence, for example.

But face it, guns don't primarily protect. They are by their very nature offensive, not defensive instruments. Armor protects. Forts protect. Locked doors protect. But weapons can only destroy and kill, or be used as a part of a threat to do so.

It can be argued, of course, that destroying, maiming or killing bad guys bent on harming the innocent rids us of threats and has the affect of protecting us. So I do believe a well regulated sheriff and/or police force is a necessary thing in a violence-prone world.

But providing "sanctuary" and offering legitimacy to just any and every kind of unregulated gun owners may make us far less safe. Do we really want to defend the right of white nationalist or Nazi groups to be armed to the teeth? Members of Antifa? Black Panther groups? Card-carrying members of the Communist party?

And if owning our current number of death-dealing instruments helps keep us safe, will encouraging even more citizens to buy ever more guns make us even more safe? I don't think so.

We're told that any sanctuary action taken by a city or county would only be a symbolic gesture. But if we really favor plows over swords, pruning hooks over spears, maybe we should quietly and respectfully show up in numbers this Wednesday with a different message. We could all wear dark sweaters as a sign of solidarity with a community that strives to become more like Mr. Rogers neighborhood and less like a coalition of unregulated individuals with ever more lethal weapons.

We are better than that.