By John Crump
Leesburg, VA –-(Ammoland.com)- Loudoun County, Virginia is considering a de facto ban on shooting on private property.
The anti-gun Supervisor, Kristen Umstattd is introducing the new ban on shooting in the Washington, DC suburb. If the board passes the prohibition on shooting, it will prevent anyone from firing a firearm within half a mile from another residence. Loudoun County is densely populated, and no place would not be affected by the ban.
This ban would also shut down basically all firearms hunting in a county with a rich history of hunting. Umstattd claims it is necessary to keep people safe from gun accidents. She says it is a safety issue and not a gun control issue.
She points to an incident where someone was firing a machine gun into a berm. The shooter was not able to keep control of the firearm and overshot the berm. The bullet hit and damaged a house. There were no injuries, and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office did not make an arrest. The Loudoun County commonwealth’s attorney’s office declined to press charges in the case.
On Thursday, June 21st, at 5 pm at 1 E. Harrison Street Leesburg, VA the Board will meet to work on amending the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County: Chapter 684.03(3)(d)-Weapons and Explosives. This meeting is open to the public, and the public will be able to sign up to speak in front of the Board.
The Virginia Constitutional Conservatives is one of the multiple pro-gun groups that are planning on attending the meeting to oppose amending the ordinance.
“This is yet another case of the radical left working to destroy our God-given rights,” said S. Chris Anders, Director of the Virginia Constitutional Conservatives. “This effort, if successful, will end all shooting and hunting in Loudoun County, not to mention it violates private property rights. There is no compromise on this issue, and we will hold anyone who votes for it accountable in the upcoming election.”
Another group that plans to have a good turnout at the Board meeting is the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL). The VCDL considers changing the ordinance because of the actions of a single person as unfair to other gun owners in the county.
“Because the actions of a single person the board wants to amend the ordinance,” said Philip Van Cleave, President of the VCDL. ” We need everyone that can go to the meeting to go and tell them not to punish all gun owners for a single person’s action.”
Loudoun County has a shifting political demographic as new people move to the county from the northern states. The formerly staunchly conservative county has seen an explosion of growth as it shifted from agriculture to technology. In recent years the county has voted for liberal candidates over conservatives, which is a stark change from the past. It will take all gun-owning residents to band together to push back against bad ordinances like the proposed changes.
AmmoLand tried to contact several members of the Loudoun County Board of Directors, but no board members returned our request for comments at the time of this writing.
Residents can also reach The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors by calling them at 703-777-0204 and demanding that they don’t exploit on person’s mistake and reckless behavior to ban all shooting and hunting within the county.
The Board will hold the meeting on Thursday June, 21st at 5 PM at 1 Harrison St SE Leesburg, VA 20175
You can find individual contact information for Board Members at https://www.loudoun.gov/bos
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on the history of the patriot movement and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss or at www.crumpy.com.