Showdown Looms As Dem’s Gun Control Agenda Likely To Meet Stiff Opposition From Nation’s Sheriffs Who Say They Will Not Enforce Unconstitutional Laws
......Gun control rhetoric from Dems is nothing new, but by holding slim majorities in the House and Senate and with Biden in the White House, they’re feeling emboldened that now is the time to move on a wide variety of gun control measures that had heretofore been stymied by a gun-friendly Trump administration and Republican majorities in at least one of two legislative bodies.
Mostly missing in the national political debate over guns, however, is where law enforcement stands regarding their willingness to enforce proposed or newly enacted gun laws. As Colorado legislators discovered in 2019 and 2020 when ‘red flag’ legislation passed—designed to allow police to seize guns from people suspected of posing a significant danger to themselves or others—laws are meaningless without enforcement.
Dozens of the state’s 64 sheriffs publicly proclaimed the bill unconstitutional & refused to enforce the new law, with roughly half of the state’s county governments passing resolutions stating that they do not support enforcing such laws or will not, “infringe on the right of the people to keep & bear arms,” as one county board phrased it.
Sheriff Steve Reams of Colorado’s rural Weld County became one of the leading voices opposing the legislation and he made the rounds on the national news talk-show circuit to share his sentiments. “If a judge issues an order saying a person can’t possess weapons, & also compels law enforcement to perform a search warrant to seek out those guns,” said Reams, “I believe that’s a violation of a person’s constitutional rights. I have a hard choice at that point. I can potentially violate someone’s constitutional rights. Or I can violate a court order. I would rather be on the side of violating a court order than someone’s rights.”
At the center of gun rights advocate’s concerns regarding red flag laws is the lack of meaningful due process. “What if a disgruntled ex-lover has a vendetta against their former significant other & wants to use these laws as retaliation?” asks George Brauchler, former District Attorney for Colorado’s Douglas, Arapahoe, Elbert and Lincoln counties, who narrowly lost a bid to become the state’s Attorney General and who has prosecuted some of the nation’s most notorious mass shootings, including the Columbine High School & Aurora Theater massacres. “We expect our justice system to make an abuse of our laws nearly impossible to achieve. Many of these red flag laws do not. A person unfairly targeted by someone using a red flag law isn’t given a fair chance to defend themselves in the court of law before a judge can call for the confiscation of their firearms. There is more due process protecting your privilege to drive than your right to bear arms.”
While 19 states—mostly Democrat controlled— and the District of Columbia have some form of red-flag laws on the books, there are more than 400 sheriffs across the country who consider themselves part of a group labelled the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a group representing thousands of deputies nationwide. Many of them have gone on-record saying that they will not enforce laws that they view as unconstitutional.
Larimer County Colorado sheriff Justin Smith is one of them. Smith didn’t hesitate to share his views on his Facebook page in an article he titled, “Preserving our Constitutional Republic.” In it he wrote, “…the Sheriff’s duties include the absolute obligation to protect the rights of the citizens of the county, and the Sheriff is accountable directly to those citizens. The Colorado Sheriff occupies this independent office which is not a subservient department of the county, state or federal government….I will not enforce unconstitutional federal laws, obey unconstitutional laws or allow others to violate the constitutional rights of those in my county.”
As the gun control debate heats up, one thing is clear: Americans are exercising their right to keep and bear arms at unprecedented levels. While 2019 was seen as an extraordinary year for gun sales with more than 28 million FBI National Instant Criminal Background Checks (required to purchase a new firearm and a good barometer of overall gun sales), 2020 saw an incredible nearly 40 million NICS checks. According to the NSSF, there are now more than 150 million gun owners in America with nearly 450 million firearms in circulation.
“As elected officials and law enforcement officers,” says Larry Keane, counsel for the NSSF, “Sheriffs take an oath to defend the constitution. That oath extends to the Second Amendment which the Supreme Court held applies to the States and local government. Sheriffs have a legal obligation not to enforce laws that blatantly violate the Second Amendment.”.........
Bluntly, America's Sheriffs, who work DIRECTLY FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, not the government, are on record......If any government passes a law that they consider unconstitutional, they wont enforce them.....period
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⮞⮞ Nullification of US Gun Law ⮜⮜ (Read 15291 times)
