YouCentral: Joshua Jennings & the 2nd Amendment Sanctuary Resolution

Here at SouthsideCentral, we welcome our readers to submit their own opinions and speeches. We’re glad to publish them as a community service.

Today, we’re publishing the speech that Joshua Jennings made in front of Danville City Council during the public comment section of the December 3rd meeting. Jennings was talking about Danville City Council voting for a resolution making the city a “2nd Amendment Sanctuary”.

My Name is Joshua Jennings; I own and operate Guns Gear & Ammo in Cascade.

Members of this Council, I stand before you at the request of many of my customers who live within Danville City limits. I have been asked how these concerned citizens would be negatively affected should Governor Northam’s aggressive agenda to remove constitutional rights every man and woman alike possesses.

Many of the agenda items which our Governor has proposed have real constitutionality concerns. Some such examples are abrogation of due process, loss of First Amendment rights, Failures to protect against unlawful search and seizure, and a range of arguments for a minimum of six amendments to the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. No citizen should be treated as a second class human being simply for exercising a God Given right which were thought important enough to enshrine in our nation’s founding document. Additionally, our State constitution has many of the same protections and goes much further to protect the rights of Virginians.

Should we allow our Governor to disenfranchise any Virginian of their rights? I would hope not. As Virginians, we have to stand firm on the belief that each man and woman of this great Commonwealth is wholly equal. We must ensure that no right which is both granted by God and ensured by law is denied a lawful citizen. Every Virginian has a right to protect his or her household, business, and community. Every Virginian has a right to repel an attacker, rapist, thief, and murderer. Every Virginian is equal in the eyes of God; why promote a difference in humanity simply for owning a firearm?

Unconstitutional laws and laws that strip rights from Virginians arbitrarily are a dangerous path to follow. We have seen in the past such laws as the Jim Crow laws which abrogated entire populations of people of their constitutional rights as human beings. Thankfully, many brave men and women challenged these laws; first though protest and civil disobedience and finally though the courts and legislative actions; I pray our nation, this Commonwealth, and the localities in this region are careful not to follow those same mistakes in legislative actions. It is better to err on the side of excess freedoms than to perpetrate unconstitutional wrongs upon the people who live in this region. I say region as many of us work and shop in Danville as well. Truthfully, we are all dependent upon each other to build and maintain this community as well as ensure the freedoms of this nation apply to all the people within this region.

I understand that many counties, including Pittsylvania County, have passed Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions. I am not asking the council to rubber stamp a carbon copy of this movement. Rather, I am requesting that this Council address the concerns of Danville’s residents and business owners who enjoy the Second Amendment. I would hope this council would look to a resolution that Ensures Equal Access to the Bill of Rights and All of its Amendments. Such a bill would deny any funding to any unconstitutional law which abrogates any amendment in the Bill of Rights. At the very least, request that NO radical changes to gun laws be legislated in the hopes of unifying this Commonwealth.

Mayor and Council Members, Thank you for your time.

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