FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. – Franklin County can now count itself among the cities and counties across the Commonwealth which have declared themselves as Second Amendment sanctuaries.
It was a packed house with hundreds of residents in attendance as the Board of Supervisors discussed the issue. 10 News was once again the only station at the meeting.
“I hope that our people in Richmond and Washington will understand this kind of opinion coming from this kind of a group," said E. Cline Brubaker, chairman of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors. ”I think we’ve got to take a position to the best of our knowledge of what we might anticipate and you don’t know what to anticipate.”
Last month, hundreds of residents attended the Board’s meeting to discuss the issue.
List of Second Amendment sanctuaries in Virginia and where it’s being discussed
During that Nov. 19 meeting, it was decided to draft a resolution to be discussed in December. The Board worked with the Commonwealth’s Attorney and Sheriff Bill Overton to come up with the resolution that was approved Tuesday, which was similar to the one passed in Alleghany County.
That resolution passed unanimously, 7-0, Tuesday afternoon before the crowd in attendance wearing orange “Guns Save Lives” stickers.
“It should send a message to Northern Virginia that we people here in Southside Virginia and Southwest Virginia, we think a lot different than they do and they need to understand us,” said Ken Dudley, who lives in Franklin County.
“It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to sit well with people, like in Franklin County, because we’re rural people. We like to hunt. We enjoy our guns for sport,” said Irene May, who lives in Franklin County. “I think the message is that we have more power than you think we do.”
Overton told 10 News he didn’t want to comment, but spoke to the crowd during the meeting, saying, “I will protect and I will defend your Second Amendment rights.”
After each board member signed the resolution, Brubaker gave it to a representative for Del. Charles Poindexter to present to the General Assembly.