Dinwiddie County declares itself ‘Second Amendment Sanctuary’

DINWIDDIE, Va. (WWBT) - Dinwiddie County now joins a handful of other Virginia counties in voting to defend gun rights.

Voting in of the Second Amendment Resolution drew in hundreds of people to Tuesday’s supervisor’s meeting.

Dinwiddie Supervisor William Chavis says hunting is a big part of the culture down here, with most people owning a firearm.

“We live rural. We have a lot of animals out here. I live in the middle of 100 acres; there’s coyotes, bears,” said a Dinwiddie County resident, who only wanted to go by ‘Rhonda’.

Hunting, along with personal protection, are part of the reason why the county board of supervisors passed the resolution.

“We have rights to bear arms. Point blank. And our county, we have a lot of hunters, lots of sportsmen that like to sport shoot,” Chairman Chavis said.

The resolution passed on a four to zero vote, with member Brenda Ebron-Bonner abstaining.

The movement has spread across Virginia since Election Day when Democrats gained control of the General Assembly. That opened to door for more gun control measures.

Many in Dinwiddie believe their constitutional rights are threatened.

“I’m really glad that somebody in Virginia is stepping up,” said Gene Brown.

Dinwiddie is the sixth Virginia county to declare itself a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary. Two more may follow suit.

But Chairman Chavis says the resolution does not mean the county will ignore state law:

“We’re not saying ‘No, we’re not going to stand by the law.’ or ‘This county isn’t going to stand by the law.' Wrong. Absolutely wrong. We stand firm on the second amendment, we believe we have the right to bear arms.”

Dinwiddie supervisors say they want the state to know they don’t want county funds to be used to restrict gun rights.

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