Yes, Virginia, the Governor Really Can Use the National Guard to Enforce Gun Control

With dozens of Virginia counties declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, some Democratic lawmakers have said the governor should use the National Guard to enforce future gun control legislation – but can he?

Virginia Democrats, who control the legislature and governorship, have proposed several measures including an “assault weapons” ban, universal background checks, and a red flag law. In response, 75 counties vowed they will not enforce future gun control legislation. Virginia Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that Gov. Ralph Northam “may have to nationalize the National Guard to enforce the law” if local authorities refuse to do so themselves. . .

“Until nationalized, it’s a creature of the state. So that’s what leads me to believe that, yes, the governor can activate the National Guard to enforce even a state law,” Gary Solis, a military law professor at Georgetown University, told the Washington Examiner. . .

The Posse Comitatus Act places strict limitations on how the military can be used to enforce the law, but the National Guard’s unique status as a state unit is an exception. Many governors have activated the National Guard to enforce the law in the past.

In 1954, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus directed the National Guard to “preserve the public peace” by turning away black students during the court-mandated integration of Little Rock’s Central High School. President Eisenhower reversed that decision by federalizing the state’s entire guard, ordering it to protect the students. (Read more from “Yes, Virginia, the Governor Really Can Use the National Guard to Enforce Gun Control” HERE)

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