virginia citizens defense league

Defending Your Right to Defend Yourself

va-alert

Published 6/23/2026

VCDL UPDATE 6/23/26

AWB Injunction Hearing 6/25

17 COMMONWEALTH'S ATTORNEYS

AND 10 SHERIFFS ON THE LIST; MORE...

1. BREAKING:  And Now There Are 17 Commonwealth's Attorneys Protecting the 2A

The Campbell County Commonwealth Attorney, Paul A. McAndrews, has sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors Chairman, Tom K. Lawton, stating that he will be declining to prosecute violations of the AWB and AW carry prohibition!

His letter is here.

Here is the current list of Commonwealth Attorneys who are honoring their oath of office to protect the good people in their jurisdictions from unconstitutional infringements on their right to keep and bear arms.  Remember that they stood up for the Constitution and gun owners when they are up for reelection:

• W. Lyle Carver, Amherst County
• Leslie M. Fleet, Appomattox County
• Paul A. McAndrews, Campbell County
• Daniel J. Farnsworth Jr., Charlotte County
• Matthew E. Bass, Clarke County
• W. Eric Branscom, Floyd County
• John L. Lumpkins Jr., Goochland County
• Bethany Harrison, Lynchburg
• Chapman L. Good, Sr., Page County
• Dayna K. Bobbitt, Patrick County
• Rob Cerullo, Powhatan County
• Justin L. Griffith, Pulaski County
• Kyle Kilgore, Scott County
• Elizabeth H. Cooper, Shenandoah County
• Phillip Blevins, Smyth County
• Ryan Mehaffey, Spotsylvania County
• John S. Bell, Warren County

The following ten sheriffs have publicly made statements that they are honoring their oath of office, just like the Commonwealth Attorneys above. There could be other sheriffs that I am not aware of.  Remember that they stood up for the Constitution and gun owners when they are up for reelection:

Appomattox County Sheriff, Robert N. Richardson

Clarke County Sheriff, Travis M. Sumption

Floyd County Sheriff, Brian Craig

Hanover County Sheriff, Gregory W. Six

Louisa County Sheriff, Donald Lowe

Powhatan County Sheriff, Brad W. Nunnally Jr.

Scott County Sheriff, Jeff B. Edds

Shenandoah County Sheriff, Timothy C. Carter

Spotsylvania County Sheriff, Roger L. Harris

Warren County Sheriff, Crystal M. Cline

The VCDL/GOA/John Crump lawsuit requesting a temporary injunction against the AWB and AW carry prohibition will be heard this Thursday! You will be updated once the case has been heard.

3. True to Being an Anti-Gun Control-Freak, the AG Holds a Press Conference on Gun Control at a Secret Location

One thing I learned during the time I have been dealing with Michael Bloomberg and most of the other gun-grabbers, is that it isn’t just about gun control for them. It is really about CONTROL in general. For them, gun ownership allows Americans to be way too independent. For people like Bloomberg to feel comfortable, everyone, except him, must be completely dependent and submissive to government to survive in life.

A non-submissive and independent public is not going to accept socialism or communism and they can’t be forced into submission – at least not without stepping on the Second Amendment tripwire.

Gun controllers like Bloomberg and “Two bullets” Jay Jones know that gun control is not defensible when held up to the light of logic, reason, and the Second Amendment. So, they do things like press conferences quietly and secretively, so voices of opposition don’t have a chance to be heard at the conference.

Bloomberg had such a “private” press conference with a Republican RINO, Jeanmarie Devolites-Davis, who he was endorsing back in the early 2000s.

And our beloved Attorney General, Jay Jones, did the same thing yesterday when he had a press conference on the upcoming frivolous lawsuit law to be used as a hammer to destroy much of the gun industry. He invited the press, but the invite did not include the location. To get the location one had to RSVP. That allowed Jones to filter and control who was in attendance. He didn’t want anyone to rain on his parade by asking questions about federal protections for the gun industry against just such legal malice (the federal protection is called the PLCAA - Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act).

Jones had best not claim that his office is “transparent,” unless he has redefined “transparent” to be “covered in mud.”

Here’s a video of the press conference.  You might need a barf bag nearby if you have a weak stomach. Jay Jones, Dan Helmer, and the Brady representative spouted a bunch of “feel good” distortions and lies. The Richmond sheriff spoke, but based on her comments I don’t think she completely understood what the press conference was about:

https://www.youtube.com/live/o0OlohNqAJI

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Here’s a video on the attack on the firearms industry using frivolous lawsuits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=QCjgvI_5wSY

4. Flock Camera Misuse Could Be a Problem for Gun Owners

Flock cameras are license plate readers that record information about each automobile that passes by and keeps that data for 21 days. The data is available to law enforcement in Virginia without any requirement for a warrant.

Flock cameras, installed around Virginia, pose a potential threat to gun owners:

• Individuals exercising their Second Amendment rights can be quietly identified and tracked.
  
  
• Patterns of attendance at ranges or shops can be used to build profiles of gun ownership.
  
  
• Data collected today could be used tomorrow to support restrictive policies or selective enforcement.

Here is more detailed information from a petition to remove them from Chesterfield County. You might want to sign the petition if you live or travel in Chesterfield ( https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/end-mass-surveillance-in-chesterfield-county):

As citizens, we have a right to privacy of travel without being followed or documented in our daily lives. Yet Chesterfield County has allowed Flock Safety—a private company—to record citizens’ travel patterns, store that information in a database, and ultimately make a profit by violating our fourth amendment rights.

These cameras are always on. They often get posted near major intersections, schools, healthcare centers, places of worship, and firearms stores. Unlike standard cameras, they create a fingerprint of a car’s license plate number, make, model, color, bumper stickers, dents and imperfections, and the date and time you drove by. Flock Safety is able to annotate these images to improve its AI algorithm and capture better information about us in its dragnet.

Not only is this database searchable without a warrant, it can also be legally accessed by law enforcement agencies throughout Virginia.

In addition to our broader concerns about mass surveillance technology being deployed against Chesterfield County residents, we are also alarmed by the growing evidence suggesting that Flock Safety cannot be trusted with this sensitive data. Numerous security vulnerabilities in their cameras (including the Falcon model purchased by Chesterfield) have been exposed and continue to be exploited, and law enforcement officers across the country have been caught inappropriately using or flat-out abusing Flock’s technology.

From leaks of live cameras and surveillance target data and tracking protesters to abusing access for personal reasons and unlawfully aiding federal law enforcement activities, Flock infringes on our freedom and compromises the safety it claims to be giving communities like Chesterfield.

At this point we are requesting the following actions:

1. Turn off all active cameras immediately.
2. Terminate Chesterfield County’s contract with Flock Safety and remove the cameras, giving 30 days’ notice as soon as possible.
3. Pass an ordinance to ban ALPRs in Chesterfield County.
4. Schedule robust, well-publicized public meetings to discuss other forms of camera surveillance being used in Chesterfield County and whether they have a place here.
5. Establish an independent, citizen-reviewed transparency portal to ensure public awareness of all remaining forms of camera surveillance in Chesterfield County.

5. Article:  Virginia Calls AR-15s 'Weapons of War.' American History Tells Another Story

And, of course, the Second Amendment was put in place to protect our right to have “weapons of war!”

https://www.ammoland.com/2026/06/virginia-weapons-of-war-ar15-ban-history/

6. Recent SCOTUS Ruling Could Be Useful in Crushing the Virginia 'Assault Firearm' Ban

Below is a video by Mark Smith of the Four Boxes Diner on how the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on U.S. v. Hermani (possession of firearms by someone who is not dangerous but using illegal drugs is protected by the 2A) can be used to fight Virginia’s AWB and AW carry prohibition.

First, Under the Hermani decision, Mark says that the DC v. Heller decision is confirmed to be good law and Heller addresses gun bans. Under Heller, a gun must be BOTH dangerous (all guns are) AND unusual. No way an AR-15, with over 30 million in circulation, is unusual. So, Virginia would lose on that argument as they cannot prove that AWs are unusual.

Second, Mark points out that Hermani says people can only be denied arms if they are violent, a dangerous to themselves or others, or had misused a gun in some bad way. So, guns in common use cannot be denied to the general public, but only to violent or dangerous individuals.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=asBpaYoMbW4&is=_TYxA2_uEqnYafCE

7. Recent Virginia Court of Appeals Ruling Says Mere Possession of a Firearm Does Not Give Law Enforcement a Reason to Detain Someone

The Virginia Court of Appeals has just issued an unpublished opinion in MARQUIS DONTE CHISHOLM, JR. v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA that just because somebody possesses a firearm and is exercising otherwise lawful conduct, law enforcement does not have a reason to detain that person.

https://www.vacourts.gov/static/opinions/opncavwp/1830241.pdf

8. Early Voting has Started for Vriginia Primaries

Early voting has started – take advantage of it. 

Here’s the Virginia Department of Elections website covering the August 4, 2026, primaries:

https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/calendars-schedules/upcoming-elections.html

Here are the primary races:

https://www.elections.virginia.gov/media/castyourballot/2026-August-Primary-Elections-(rev-5-28-26)-(for-web).pdf

The Republican and Democrat candidate information is here:

https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/candidate-list/

You can register to vote, check your registration status, find your polling place, or apply for an absentee ballot to be mailed to you, here:

https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation

NOTE: In Virginia you can vote in either primary, but you cannot vote in both. Which party you vote for in the primaries does not affect which party you vote for in the actual election.

Gun control almost costing more lives. Criminals and gun grabbers (kindred spirits?) love gun control.

Massachusetts Gun Laws Interfered With Armed Citizen's Response to Mass Shooting

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/06/16/massachusetts-gun-laws-interfered-with-armed-citizens-response-to-mass-shooting-n1232877

10. Items on the AWB Injunction That Was Denied in Spotsylvania County Court

How the Militia Could Save This State's Gun Rights

https://youtu.be/Bnmb50LPXZU?si=hbyiJdZ5HGx2VF6B

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No Injunction Against Virginia's Assault Weapon Ban

https://youtu.be/YlR_N4iAmcg?si=npJbzUUghVqaQZ0R

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Judge Denies Injunction in Virginia Gun and Magazine Ban Lawsuit

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/06/18/judge-denies-injunction-in-virginia-gun-and-magazine-ban-lawsuit-n1232909

11. A Member Looks at the Pure Idiocy That Is the 'Assault Firearm' Ban

https://www.baconsrebellion.com/if-we-ban-the-ar-15-perhaps-we-should-restrict-hands-and-feet-as-well/

12. LTE: Residents Urge Defense of Second Amendment Rights

This Letter to the Editor (LTE) was published in The Recorder (a Highland County newspaper).  NOTE: This is an unusually long LTE. Generally, it is a good idea to keep an LTE to 3, or maybe 4 paragraphs if you want to get it published. Bejamin Franklin famously said, “I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time!”

That said, we need gun owners across the state to periodically submit LTEs on the RKBA and VCDL thanks Leo Schwartz for doing this one:

https://www.therecorderonline.com/articles/residents-urge-defense-of-second-amendment-rights/

Editor, The Recorder
Monterey Va
June 14, 2026

Abagail Spanberger and a gang of rabid socialists in the General Assembly have renewed their attacks on Article 1, Section 13 of Virginia’s Constitution, and the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms.”

Because of her radical beliefs and sordid record of pandering to leftist causes, Spanberger has been likened to the Great Whore of Babylon in Revelation 17, holding “a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.” That cup contains over a million dollars in campaign funds from notorious anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Like so many political prostitutes who have adopted the anti-gun agenda, Spanberger is simply a lackey of Bloomberg, George Soros and other wealthy Marxist control-freaks who fear American’s freedoms and detest private ownership of the firearms needed to protect them. 

Numerous anti-gun measures have passed in Virginia and will take effect July 1st. Many of those statutes conflict with U. S. Supreme Court decisions and are unconstitutional. Universal Background Checks, private sale or transfer of firearms, a ban on sale of so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity ammunition feeding devices” or magazines holding more than 15 rounds, a ban on public carry of so-called assault weapons, expansion of “red-flag” gun confiscations, and other statutes are designed to make Virginians less safe and more vulnerable to criminal assault. 

Spanberger’s gangsters have exempted themselves, their royal bodyguards and police from the rules. Attorney General Jay Jones, the man who fantasized about murdering a political opponent with a gun and then watching his children die, is pushing enforcement of the new statutes. They can carry weapons without question, but lowly, tax-paying peons must submit to metal detectors, be filmed by security cameras and be treated as subversives, lunatics or terrorists. Apparently, we have no right to exist—except to serve them. 

Jones even tried to circumvent a statewide injunction on Universal Background Checks. He was stopped by Lynchburg’s Circuit Judge Yeatts who warned Jones and the Virginia State Police the injunction permanently and absolutely blocks those checks.

Spanberger, Jones and the gang in the General Assembly are being opposed by a growing force of citizens and local officials. Not only have legal challenges been filed to strike down the new legislation, but to date, over sixty local governments and sheriffs have made new public commitments to protect citizens, renewed Second Amendment Sanctuary Resolutions and publicly declared their refusals to enforce the new anti-gun legislation.

Even more powerful, fifteen Virginia Commonwealth Attorneys have stated the legislation is unconstitutional and will not be enforced in their counties. The joint statement from Appomattox County Sheriff Richardson and Commonwealth's Attorney Fleet is outstanding: “I have been asked by a number of Appomattox County residents what my stance is regarding the new gun laws that will take effect on July 1, 2026. I want to be very clear, the Sheriff and I are in total agreement that we will not enforce the new Assault Weapons and Assault Weapons Carry bans just signed into law as we believe they are Unconstitutional on their face... and the Sheriff and I stand with other Virginia Sheriff’s and Commonwealth’s Attorneys in putting the Constitution above politics.” 

What have Highland County leaders been doing to preserve and protect our rights? 

On January 8, 2020, facing a large pro-Second Amendment crowd, the previous Highland Board of Supervisors reluctantly adopted a Resolution declaring Highland a “Second Amendment Sanctuary County.” Highland was virtually the last jurisdiction in Virginia to do so. It should have been the first. The language of that resolution is shamefully spineless. It needs to be updated and strengthened by the current Board, leaving no doubt about Highland’s position. As counties across the Commonwealth are reaffirming the Rights of their citizens, Highland Supervisors have remained silent and failed to act.

During her campaign for Highland Commonwealth Attorney, I asked Megan Yelen where she stood on the Second Amendment. She said, “My husband and I are strong supporters of the Second Amendment.” Shenandoah County Commonwealth's Attorney Elizabeth H. Cooper recently stated: “I will not be enforcing any code section that violates the United States Constitution, nor the Virginia Constitution. In my review, the statutes sought to be established by the Legislature and Governor, do, in fact, completely ignore the intention of the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution, and Article I, Section 13 of the Bill of Rights of the Virginia Constitution.” Megan Yelen should publicly affirm her support for our Right to keep and bear arms, and publicly state her refusal to enforce unconstitutional gun controls. She, too, has remained silent.

On March 3, 2026, I contacted Sheriff Bob Kelly regarding the many pending bills to restrict our Rights. I expressed disappointment he had not spoken out and urged him to do so as soon as possible with a statement in this newspaper, and to communicate to the Governor and Attorney General his refusal to enforce unconstitutional new statutes. 

Sheriff Kelly responded: “I will call you or come by to see you. But I hope you know where I stand on all of the bill of rights. I know the county citizens know that I have always been a strong supporter of the 2nd amendment and the rest of the amendments. I have been thinking about putting something on our Facebook page. It would not be for the Highland County citizens, but for the world to see. My responsibilities are to the citizens of Highland County. But I am still thinking about creating a statement for the world. Leo, I will call and come by and talk.”

I am still waiting for Bob to call and come by and talk. He’s a busy man, but I hope he has finished thinking about it and will now make a strong statement opposing enforcement of unconstitutional statutes in Highland. 

Every day more Americans realize we are living in volatile, dangerous times where the veneer of civilization is getting thinner. The need for individuals to be able to arm themselves to protect life, liberty and property is not debatable. 

“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” God found no one in Ezekiel’s day. Who will He find today in Highland to stand in the gap?

Leo Schwartz
Doe Hill

13. John Farnam:  What Happens When the 911-System Fails on a Large Scale?  And the 'Mostly Peaceful' Delusion

John Farnam on extended 911-System failures:

Last weekend, four widely-separated states (IA, AZ, TX, WA) reported mass 911-System failures. Curiously, the event garnered scant interest from the media.

What caused these simultaneous failures is “not clear,” which is the usual boiler-place [SIC] “explanation” for such inconvenient service interruptions. As far back as 2020, many in a position to know have warned that our entire nationwide 911 System is not ageing well and is thus far less reliable, and less by the day, than most among the naive have been lead [SIC] to believe.

Accordingly, the sage need to look-upon our current 911 System as yet another example of “nice-to-have-when-it-works-technology.” Basing our “preparation for personal security emergencies” solely upon “making a phone call” thus represents a naive and flawed personal philosophy, as we see!

Operators accept, at a personal level, the responsibility and obligation to prepare for foreseeable emergencies, to the extent that we reasonably can. Fire extinguishers, trauma kits, serious defensive firearms (along with knowledge and skills involved in strategically employing them at critical moments) are integral components of our personal kit.

Who maintain a landline telephone are few today, and getting fewer. Telephone companies no longer even print, nor distribute, conventional phonebooks. So long as the internet is working, you don’t need a phonebook. But, what happens when the internet is down (indefinitely), and you need to look-up “non-emergency numbers” for your police department, sheriff’s department, state police?

Unavoidable technology glitches (like the one described above), even during otherwise tranquil times, will predicably [SIC] wreak instant, widespread havoc.

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John Farnam on the “Mostly Peaceful” delusion:

Getting worse!

Previous BLM/ANTIFA (the “provisional wing” of the DNC) ”mostly-peaceful protests,” versus recent “teen takeovers”

“Youths” arrested recently come from some distance, and are well armed! They harbor no fantasies about “social justice” Gone are the screaming, hysterical, college-educated, white, middle-class spoiled punks who were seen at BLM protests. These are different players, and with a more "open" agenda!

Current “teen takeovers” attract and involve a far more unapologetically sanguinary crowd. Violent, person-on-person crime is their stock-in-trade.

They target public parks, public beaches, “festivals,” Christian/Jewish religious services, tourist areas, stores, restaurants, and they enthusiastically rob, terrorize, carjack, vandalize, burglarize, maim, all with scant interference from police, nor from leftist prosecutors. Private homes, even church services, are not “off limits,” and woe to the innocent citizen who dares protect himself and his family from a murderous mob. Democrat politicians, along with their media stooges, will immediately brand him “bigot,” “racist,” etc.

This summer will continue to witness these cyber-coordinated, destructive, malignant mobs, and Democrat governors and mayors, not wanting to upset their criminal voting-base, are ever hesitant about interfering with them and actually protecting innocent people and their property.

It can’t be said too often:

Openly-violent mobs come-together very quickly. You can find yourself in the middle of one before you know it!

So:

Don’t be there to begin with.

Heads-up! Continuously watch for signs of impending peril

Exit quickly, while you still can.

Go armed.

Don’t delude yourself by foolishly thinking someone else will protect/rescue you

Meanwhile, I’m sure our American “news media” will be describing yesterday’s attempted murder in Ireland as a “mostly-peaceful beheading!”

14. Article: Violent Crime Drops as More Citizens 'Pack Heat'

Gun Safety: Violent Crime Drops As More Americans Pack Heat

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/gun-safety-violent-crime-drops-more-americans-pack-heat

15. Weird Article of the Day

This is why dogs should be taught firearm safety! (Or why having a gaming computer is as good as a bullet-proof vest!). ;-)

Gaming computer's RAM stick saves woman from bullet fired through wall by neighbor’s dog

https://notthebee.com/article/gaming-computer-saves-woman-from-bullet-fired-by-neighbors-dog