virginia citizens defense league
Defending Your Right to Defend Yourself
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1. Sign the VCDL Petition to the Governor and the General Assembly
2.
VCDL Meeting This Thrusday, February 19, at XCal in Ashburn
VCDL will have its monthly membership meeting at XCal, on Thursday, February 19th, at 8pm. We will be discussing what’s happening at the General Assembly, other gun-issues affecting Virginia’s gun owners, and Q&A.
Membership meeting location:
XCal Shooting Sports and Fitness Center
44950 Russell Branch Pkwy
Ashburn, VA 20147
Come early (6pm-7pm) if you want to shoot and/or eat at the XCal Cafe before the meeting. VCDL members get $5 off a lane on meeting night.
The event is open to the public, so bring friends and family! See you there!
3.
SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY UPDATES
Charlotte County
On February 11, the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors voted to reaffirm their Second Amendment Sanctuary status, initially passed in 2019.
Colonial Heights
On February 10, the Colonial Heights City Council reaffirmed the City’s Second Amendment Sanctuary status. Senator Glen Sturtevant and Delegate Mike Cherry will be asked to read the resolution on the Senate and House Floors, respectively.
Fauquier County
By a 4 to 1 vote on February 12, the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors reaffirmed their 2019 Second Amendment Resolution.
Media coverage:
https://www.fauquier.com/localnews/fauquier-supervisors-protest-laws-on-guns-and-redistricting/article_fc27dfa6-ca17-440c-a69e-f6c19bfd51b9.html
Fluvanna County
This was posted on Facebook:
Mike Goad - Fork Union Supervisor's Post
Mike Goad - Fork Union Supervisor is in Fork Union, VA.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1R7RWGDcVC/
This evening during New Business, a majority of the Board of Supervisors (including me) agreed to direct the County Attorney to bring back a draft resolution that would reaffirm Fluvanna County’s status as a Second Amendment Sanctuary—a designation I believe remains important, particularly in light of some of the legislation currently being considered in Richmond.
We will consider this as an Action Matter at the next BOS meeting on February 18.
Lynchburg
On February 10, the Lynchburg City Council adopted a new resolution confirming the City is a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
Madison County
On February 10, the Madison County Board of Supervisors reaffirmed the County’s status as a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
Mecklenburg County
On February 9, the Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors discussed and the County Attorney confirmed that their Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution for 2019 is still in effect.
Prince George County
On February 10, the Prince George County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to pass a new resolution on being a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
Smyth County
On February 10, the Smyth County Board of Supervisors unanimously reaffirmed the County’s 2019 resolution making it a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
Spotsylvania County
On February 10, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors reaffirmed the County’s status as a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
Warren County
On February 9, the Warren County Board of Supervisors passed a new Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution. The resolution passed unanimously.
Westmoreland County
On February 9, the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors unanimously reaffirmed the County’s status as a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
List of 23 localities that have reaffirmed
their 2A Sanctuary status as of 2/16/26
Augusta County
Campbell County
Charlotte County
Colonial Heights
Craig County
Fauquier County
Lee County
Louisa County
Lynchburg
Madison County
Mecklenburg County
Norton City
Prince George County
Roanoke County
Russel County
Scott County
Smyth County
Spotsylvania County
Tazewell County
Warren County
Westmoreland County
Wise County
Wythe County
4. Debate Videos from the General ASsembly
[VIDEOS]
5. VCDL President Interview on the Green Ops Podcast
6. Article: Democrat-Run Virginia Goes Big on Gun Control
I am quoted in this Washington Times article:
Democrat-run Virginia goes big on gun control
https://www.newsbreak.com/share/4486436382498-democrat-run-virginia-goes-big-on-gun-control
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And this also from the Washington Times:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/feb/3/gun-control-gone-mad-virginia-gov-spanberger-lost-common-sense/
Virginia Gov.
Abigail Spanberger promised during her campaign that she would sign a lot of gun control legislation. She said, “I will sign legislation into law to make progress on these issues to keep Virginia families safe.”
Yet common sense is lacking in the bills that will probably pass the
Virginia legislature. The Democrats started with more than a dozen, and the most striking thing about them is that none will result in fewer criminals having access to guns. All they will do is create heavy burdens for people who follow the law.
Senate Bill 1109 would require a permit from the Virginia State Police to purchase a gun. This goes far beyond the usual background check, which the gun seller conducts right away. It is almost certainly unconstitutional for several reasons, not least because it has never been done before. That conflicts with the Supreme Court’s reasoning in the Bruen decision, which held that for gun control legislation to be constitutional, it must be consistent with laws from the 1800s and 1900s.
That’s just the beginning.
The bills also include a ban on assault weapons and a limit on magazine capacity. The ban doesn’t include weapons already in possession, but it does ban high-capacity magazines. The “grandfathering” doesn’t affect magazines, and it makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to possess a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds. That would instantly make thousands of Virginia gun owners criminals.
The “assault weapons” ban would make it a crime to sell, rent, transfer or otherwise possess such weapons manufactured after 2026. The “transfer” prohibition will ban passing on such guns as an inheritance.
The bill, Senate Bill 749, bans weapons that have one or more of the following characteristics: “(i) a folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock; (ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the rifle; (iii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (iv) a grenade launcher; (v) a flare launcher; (vi) a sound suppressor; (vii) a flash suppressor; (viii) a muzzle brake; (ix) a muzzle compensator; (x) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a sound suppressor, (b) a flash suppressor, (c) a muzzle brake, or (d) a muzzle compensator; or (xi) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (x).”
The bill essentially classifies as an assault weapon any rifle with a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.
I have some knowledge of weapons. It’s constructive to compare those characteristics with the old Browning .50-caliber machine gun, which is already illegal to own under the National Firearms Act of 1934. It is known to the troops as “Ma Deuce” because its designation is an M2.
I have fired the M2 twice, once at Quantico Marine Base’s 1,000-yard range and once wearing night vision goggles, both times under the supervision of a couple of former Navy SEAL pals.
The M2 is an extraordinary weapon. As a total rookie, I was able to hit the barrel of a tank gun at 1,000 yards quite easily. Wearing night-vision goggles, I was able to hit targets at shorter range just as easily.
The Ma Deuce doesn’t have a collapsible stock. It doesn’t have a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously from the action of the gun, nor does it have a grenade launcher, flare launcher, sound suppressor, muzzle brake, muzzle compensator, threaded barrel capable of accepting a sound suppressor, muzzle brake or muzzle compensator. (It can be fitted with a flash suppressor.)
That won’t make it legal for a Virginia resident to possess, but it does show that those trying to ban “assault weapons” don’t have a clue what an “assault weapon” is and just want to ban anything that looks like an AR-15.
The people behind the proposed ban don’t care whether it passes a constitutionality test. They want their laws to stand until, years from now, they are reversed by the Supreme Court.
Ms. Spanberger ran as a moderate, but she appears to be Joseph R. Biden in a blond wig. She isn’t interested in commonsense legislation and will sign anything that passes the
Democratic-controlled legislature, including an “assault weapons” ban and a limit on magazine size.
Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, the principal sponsor of the bill, is a native of Bangladesh. Mr. Salim said at a hearing on the bill, “This approach will gradually take the weapons off the street without retroactively making it a crime to own a weapon that was legally purchased.”
No, it won’t.
If Virginia Democrats wanted to make people safer, they would be legislating requirements for tougher sentences for the commission of a crime using a gun. They don’t care. They just want to score political points.
• Jed Babbin is a national security and foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Times and a contributing editor for The American Spectator.
7. Nation's Gun Show Interview on Proposed Gun Laws
8.
LTE: Passing New Gun Laws Won't Make Virginia Safer
Thomas Hobert hits another ball out of the park with a letter to the editor of the Virginian-Pilot, the second one in a couple of weeks! More of us need to do just that. Kudos, again, to the Virginian-Pilot.
Letters for Jan. 30: Passing new gun laws won’t make Virginia safer
https://www.pilotonline.com/2026/01/29/letters-for-jan-30-passing-new-gun-laws-wont-make-virginia-safer/
If passing new laws reduced violence, America would be the safest nation on earth. The reality is more complicated.
Laws are essential for defining unacceptable behavior and punishing wrongdoing. Murder, assault, robbery, and reckless endangerment are already illegal – and rightly so. Yet violence persists, not because these laws are weak or lacking detail, but because law alone cannot eliminate human violence.
This distinction matters when evaluating new firearm legislation. Many proposals focus on regulating lawful ownership and compliance rather than the violent acts themselves. These measures primarily affect citizens who already follow the law, while offering little impact on those who do not.
The Second Amendment is not a relic of the past tied to 1791 technology. Like other constitutional rights, it protects an enduring principle rather than a specific tool. That understanding predates the Constitution itself: Virginia’s Declaration of Rights recognized the inherent right to keep and bear arms, which the Second Amendment later affirmed. The right endures because the underlying reality endures – the need for citizens to defend themselves, their families, and their liberty. Tools change; human nature does not.
Nothing in this argument dismisses the reality of violence or the need to address it seriously. Reducing harm requires honesty about what laws can do – and respect for the rights that do not come from government and cannot be withdrawn by it.
9.
Article: Gun Purchase Permit and Waiting Period Bills in Trouble
VCDL is carefully watching the status of all gun bills in the General Assembly. This article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch discusses two that are in trouble:
https://richmond.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/article_7d7a0dbd-5b2b-41f1-84b3-a2da80a91f44.html
Two proposed restrictions on buying guns have stalled in the General Assembly, even as legislators move a series of previously vetoed gun control measures toward the desk of a governor who says she'll sign them.
One stalled bill would require a newly authorized Virginia State Police purchaser's license before Virginians could buy a handgun, and the other called for a five-day waiting period before completing a gun sale.
For the third day running, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, asked the state Senate to postpone a vote on his purchasing license proposal, Senate Bill 643.
Virginia does not currently require a permit to buy a gun.
Surovell's bill says would-be buyers would have to tell the state police if they’ve been convicted of a crime, if they are subject to a court order restraining them from harassing or threatening a family member or intimate partner, or if they have been committed for mental health treatment and therefore barred under Virginia law from buying firearms.
Selling a gun to someone without a purchasing license would be subject to as much as a year in jail if the bill were to be enacted.
But Surovell said he's been hearing indirectly about pushback from the House of Delegates.
Apparently, this is because of concern that a court test might end like last year's ruling by Lynchburg Circuit Court Judge F. Patrick Yeatts, striking down the state’s universal background check law for private firearm sales. The judge granted a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of the law.
Attorney General Jay Jones has asked the Court of Appeals to extend its deadline for an appeal. Then-Attorney General Jason Miyares did not pursue one.
Waiting period
Meanwhile, the measure calling for a five-day waiting period,
House Bill 700, has yet to be heard in committee.
Del. C.E. "Cliff" Hayes, D-Chesapeake, introduced it Jan. 13, but it has not yet been assigned to a subcommittee or placed on an agenda of the House Public Safety Committee.
The committee on Friday held its last meeting before crossover, the day next week when the House must complete action on all bills if they are to go to the Senate.
Hayes' bill says no person shall sell a firearm unless at least five days have elapsed from the time a would-be buyer completes a consent form for a criminal background check.
Buying or selling a gun before the five days have passed would be a class 1 misdemeanor, subject to up to a year in jail.
Ten states and the District of Columbia require waiting periods, ranging from three days in Colorado and Florida to 14 days in Hawaii, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The waiting period in Washington, D.C., is 10 days.
…
Other gun measures
Gun bills that are moving include Senate Bill 348, which passed earlier this week and says firearms in homes where there are minors or individuals barred from having a gun need to be stored in a locked container. A violation would be subject to a $250 fine.
Earlier this week, the House of Delegates passed
House Bill 19, saying people convicted of domestic abuse of an individual they’ve had a recent romantic, dating or sexual relationship with could be barred from having or buying a gun.
The House also passed:
- House Bill 1525, which says people under 21 can’t have or buy a semi-automatic firearm, raising the current restriction of 18 years of age.
- House Bill 909, which says people can’t carry a gun within 100 feet of polling places.
- House Bill 916, which says people need to complete a handgun safety course that teaches responsible use of a concealed gun for self-defense, state law on handguns and proper storage of handguns, as well as demonstrating that they know how to handle guns safely. This bill repeals another provision that requires National Rifle Association or United States Concealed Carry Association courses.
Last week, the House of Delegates passed bills that ban semi-automatic firearms, ban guns from mental hospitals and keep illegal [sic] guns out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers.
10.
Article: Virginia Gun Owners Defeat $500 Suppressor Tax
11. Guest Column Item: Virginia's Proposed 'Assault Weapons' Ban Ineffective and Unconstitutional
12.
Leftist and liberal Gun Groups are Seeing a Rush of New Members
13.
A Free Pickup Truck Sign Advertising VCDL is Available
One of our members made two nice signs for use with a pickup truck. He is giving away those signs.
One has the VCDL logo and “Second Amendment Matters ‘fight for your rights.’”
The other has VCDL and GSL logos and “‘No Queens’ Spanberger wants your guns! Support VCDL.”
If you want more information (I have pictures of the actual signs) or are interested in getting one of those signs, let me know: president@vcdl.org.
14. MAJOR FAILURE IN CANADA'S STRICT GUN CONTROL LAWS
15.
HOW DOES AUSTRALIA'S VIOLENT CRIME RATE COMPARE TO THE USA?
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