Whiteness and Impunity: Examining Virginia's Second Amendment Sanctuary Movement

Abstract

How do people who consider themselves law abiding mobilize against "offensive" laws? Stated differently, how do people assert impunity? Although sociologists robustly document the unequal administration of American law, most focus on the production and legitimation of racial disparities through punishment rather than impunity. We use theories of Whiteness to analyze Virginia's Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions, illuminating how impunity is reproduced as a White prerogative, to engage sociological debates surrounding race and the legal system. These resolutions draw on an ideology of rights centered on the sanctification of the Constitution to buttress their standing and affirm gun-owning Americans as enactors/defenders of social order by decrying state efforts to restrict gun access. Our analysis suggests that Second Amendment sanctuary supporters assert a relation of impunity between themselves and the law by reflecting and reproducing White habitus and by reconstructing the rule of law through reliance on exclusionary tropes involving American values, tradition, and Constitutionality. Our analysis reveals that resolution supporters routinely asserted Second Amendment sanctuaries as White sanctuaries, tying Whiteness to gun rights and shaping how social structures (including laws) are organized.

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“…For instance, the decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Action policy brought about immediate and long-term negative social and health effects for undocumented immigrants of color (Vigil & Muñoz, 2023). Additionally, Garnar et al (2022) articulate how gun rights laws signal whiteness without using explicitly racialized language. In particular, Virginia's Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions provide elected officials the opportunity to tie whiteness to gun ownership via coded language that does not mention race.…”

“…For instance, gun ownership and gun rights are racialized in the U.S. society due to the system of whiteness. Throughout the U.S. history and in contemporary times, guns “have appeared as tools of White men's entitlement to use violence to protect the private sphere [and] to police the public sphere” (Garnar et al., 2022, p. 600). Racially resentful White Americans have a stronger tendency to associate guns with White (and not Black) people, and their support of gun rights fluctuates based on racial identity politics (Higginbotham et al., 2022).…”

“…Additionally, Garnar et al. (2022) articulate how gun rights laws signal whiteness without using explicitly racialized language. In particular, Virginia's Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions provide elected officials the opportunity to tie whiteness to gun ownership via coded language that does not mention race.…”

“…In particular, Virginia's Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions provide elected officials the opportunity to tie whiteness to gun ownership via coded language that does not mention race. Through race‐coded language that taps into fear and racism (e.g., dog whistling) (Schutten et al., 2021), lawmakers generate political support for progun policy by propagating the notion that White men are “law‐abiding citizens” and “good guys with guns” who serve as armed guardians of America and deserve to be armed (Garnar et al., 2022). Thus, whiteness is invisibly embedded in colorblind laws and policies that entrench racial inequality into the U.S. society.…”