In a letter dated May 29, 2026, Clarke County, Virginia, Sheriff Travis Sumption says his office will not enforce the state’s “assault weapons” ban nor the “expanded public-carry restrictions.”
Sumption was joined by Clarke County Commonwealth Attorney Matthew E. Bass, both of whom said:
For decades, the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly affirmed that the United States Constitution guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” …Likewise, the Constitution of Virginia recognizes the same right…Beyond that, Clarke County is a rural jurisdiction with a longstanding, proud tradition of firearms ownership, hunting, recreational shooting, self-defense, and family protection. On January 6, 2020, these federal and states rights, along with our local traditions, were memorialized via Resolution with the unanimous, bipartisan support of the Clarke County Board of Supervisors.
In that context, new laws from Richmond primarily relating to 1) the purchase, sale, transfer, possession, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, or magazines that have been lawful prior to July 1, 2026; and 2) expanded public-carry restrictions, threaten the integrity of federal and state legal principles equally recognized as fundamentally important to the citizens of Clarke County.
The letter goes on to state that beyond the clear problems between the demands of the new laws and their interruption of preexisting rights, a pragmatic principle is also in play: the sheriff’s lack of manpower for enforcing all the aspects of the new gun controls.
Therefore, Sheriff Sumption and Commonwealth Attorney Bass both made clear there will be no enforcement of the new controls against “non-violent offenders.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at [email protected].
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