Second Amendment ‘Sanctuary County’ Movement Expands

You won’t hear it on CNN, MSNBC or from any of the other mainstream media outlets but a growing number of municipalities, counties, and even states have declared themselves to be “Second Amendment Sanctuaries.”

Many of these are refusing to enforce what they believe are flawed and unconstitutional ordinances that violate the Second Amendment. While the move is not a new one, the nation is seeing a groundswell of support for the movement from California to New York.

Hundreds of counties have declared themselves to be Second Amendment Sanctuaries over the last five years. And they aren’t just refusing to comply with unconstitutional, anti-gun state laws. They are passing their own statutes that explicitly protect the right for their citizens to bear arms.

Credit should be given to sheriffs all over this country who stand up to biased, anti-2A government officials and their duty to the people who elected them.

Kelli Sladick of the Tenth Amendment Center explains that legally speaking, county sheriffs are the last line of defense in the battle for our Second Amendment rights. She writes, “Federal agencies do not have state powers. Due to the Constitution’s structure of dual sovereignty, the feds have no authority to enforce state laws. Furthermore, states cannot be compelled to enforce federal laws.”

These loyal men and women have led the way in reminding the Federal government of what it has the right to do. A trailblazer of this movement was former Sheriff Richard Mack of Graham County, Arizona. He played a key role in a successful lawsuit brought against the Feds regarding portions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.

Sheriff Mack said, “The Constitution gives the federal government the authority to police exactly four areas: treason, piracy, treaty violations, and counterfeiting.”

He points to 5,000 other areas of governance the Federal government had stolen from local and state authorities. He reminds us, “The very people who have promised us they will protect and defend the Constitution are the ones who are destroying it.”

Today’s resistance stems from liberal state legislatures, like the one in the state of Colorado, that passed what has commonly become known as red flag laws. HB19-1177 of the Centennial State allows the government to seize the arms of law-abiding citizens if a petitioner “establishes” by a preponderance of the evidence that the gun owner “poses a significant risk to self or others.”

Dozens of sheriffs in the state of Colorado first refused to enforce the law they considered unconstitutional and were then joined by other county officials to pass their own statutes supporting the second amendment.

With Chicago’s out-of-control gun crime rate, much of the rest of Illinois has said “enough!”
Joe Thoele, a member of the board of Effingham County, Illinois wanted to let the state lawmakers in Springfield know their anti-gun measures were not welcomed in his county. As a result, the small county of 34,000 is at the center of the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement in its state.

Effingham County passed a resolution this week banning Illinois’ FOID (firearm owner’s identification cards). According to board member David Campbell FOID is unconstitutional because it requires “someone to pay a fee for a constitutionally protected right.”

Following that county’s lead, 64 of Illinois’ 102 counties have now declared themselves to be sanctuary counties, and 26 more are considering such a move.

Because there is little else they can do, Democrats who passed the anti-gun laws in the first place must bluster on MSNBC. They can’t enforce their demands when counties and states refuse to cooperate.
52 of New York’s counties officially oppose their state’s SAFE Act (Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013). Almost every sheriff in New Mexico opposes infringements on the 2nd Amendment and 24 of its 33 counties have passed 2nd Amendment sanctuary city ordinances.

Missouri is now mounting its second attempt to declare itself a sanctuary state. With a Republican governor replacing his Democrat predecessor, that state is poised to approve its “Second Amendment Protection Act.” That law would nullify most “federal gun-control legislation” including red flag laws and the Gun Control Act of 1968.”

Effingham County State’s Attorney Bryan Kibler tells of a Mississippi man on his way to Chicago when a state trooper arrested him for having a small (not concealed) revolver in his car. Kibler told the trooper, “get him out of here and give him his gun back. The state of Illinois should not be making a felon out of this man.”

Our country could use a few more such local officials.