More rural counties say they're 2nd Amendment sanctuaries

Upshur County, Texas (Wikipedia map)

In the past year, dozens of mostly rural and Republican-majority counties across the U.S. have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, a mostly symbolic affirmation of citizens' right to bear arms that rejects state "red flag" laws that allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms if a gun owner displays threatening behavior. In a sanctuary city or county, local officials say they generally won't ask law officers to enforce gun-control laws, Robert Grant reports for WVLT-TV in Knoxville.

"We don't want our Second Amendment rights to be stripped away from us,"David Campbell, vice chairman of the Effingham County Board, told CNN shortly after the Illinois county passed its sanctuary resolution. "If we protect immigrants with sanctuary cities, why not use similar laws to protect our rights to own a gun?"
Upshur County, Texas, pop. 39,309, became one of the latest to declare itself a Second Amendment sanctuary county last Friday, Ken Hedler reports for the Longview News-Journal. It's the ninth Texas county out of 254 to make the declaration. In Texas, the recent uptick in such declarations could be attributed to threats by Democratic presidential candidates (especially Texan Beto O'Rourke) to impose stricter limits on some firearms.

"It is a symbolic gesture to show the state Legislature we think we ought to be able to protect our Second Amendment rights," County Judge Todd Tefteller said after the 5-0 vote. "It’s more like sending a message, but I don’t have any fear in losing my constitutional rights."