NEW YORK—Hundreds of local counties, cities, and towns across America are declaring themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” or “constitutional counties” as part of an ever-expanding movement over the past few years that has surprised even those who enacted the sanctuary resolutions in the first place.
Local officials in these counties generally state that they won’t follow new gun laws they believe are unconstitutional. The movement has increasingly gained momentum since 2018 after one of the first sanctuaries was enacted in Effingham County, Illinois, in response to newly elected Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who had vowed to push new gun control legislation in the state.
