By Paul Lathrop | Contributing Editor
Blacksburg, Virginia is considering further Second Amendment restrictions after the Virginia Legislature did away with state preemption in July of this year.
The Roanoke Times is reporting that The Blacksburg City Commission is about to impose a broad restriction on carrying firearms in city buildings and on streets where festivals are taking place and several other areas.
Should the City Commission move ahead with the planned ordinance during its Jan. 12 meeting, residents will no longer be able to carry a firearm in any building owned by the city. Violations would be a Class 1 misdemeanor.
“I think it just makes common sense,” said Blacksburg Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith. “There are already prohibitions in courthouses and in schools. This just adds a few more public spaces. It’s certainly something our residents have asked for over and over again.”
The anti- Second Amendment rhetoric seems to be spreading among politicians in the area as well.
At least one member of Christiansburg Town Council—Steve Huppert—is voicing interest in pursuing a similar measure to Blacksburg.
“I think it’s a way to go myself. I don’t think we need to have guns in there, at all,” said Huppert, who has advocated for gun control measures. “It’s a good idea. Maybe we should consider following Blacksburg, just to have both towns agreeing on the same thing.”
Huppert said his main issue is the carrying of certain automatic weapons, which he doesn’t view as necessary for the general public.
“Those weapons are for combat, not for your backyard,” he stated.
Huppert is a Vietnam War veteran, having served in the Army with the 101st Airborne Division. He said he was in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, where he was combat platoon leader for seven months.
“I’ve dealt with weapons probably more than anyone else in this county,” Huppert said.
Philip Van Cleve, president of the Virginia Civil Defense League opposes the proposed ordinance.
“Whenever we had our booth at their festival we were the number one draw,” Van Cleave said. “Everybody was putting on our Guns Save Lives stickers. They can’t argue that nobody wanted us there.”
Van Cleve said that VCDL is not laying down for anyone.
“We’ve already had them bombarded with an email blast that I sent out to members so they are getting tons and tons and tons of people saying ‘Don’t do it’. We’ll continue that pressure and when they have their meeting we will pack the room as much as we can with the COVID environment that we are in.”
