Fear & Loading: Pages from the Sanctuary Playbook

Reuters news service is reporting counties in at least five states—Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Illinois and New Mexico—have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, where their respective law enforcement personnel will not enforce laws that infringe a law-abiding citizen’s constitutional right to Keep and Bear Arms. According to the story, “The sanctuary movement is exposing the rift between rural and urban America as much as the one between Republican and Democratic parties, as small, conservative counties push back against statewide edicts passed by big-city politicians.”  

That sentiment was echoed by Effingham County (IL) board member Dave Campbell. “If they want to have their own laws, that’s fine,” he said. “Don’t shove them on us down here.”

A number of New Mexico sheriffs have declared their opposition to gun-control measures being considered by the state legislature—30 of them to be precise, out of the state’s 33, according to an NRA-ILA alert issued Monday. More than half of The Enchantment State’s counties have declared themselves Second Amendment Sanctuaries.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) responded with tweets, according to USA Today, claiming, “A few law enforcement officers in this state have been making noise about how they won’t enforce gun safety measures because they don’t like them.” Klickitat County Sheriff (WA) Bob Songer explained in the Reuters report that he considers the law unconstitutional and said, “Unfortunately for the governor and the attorney general, they’re not my boss. My only boss is the people that elected me to office.”  

House bill 83, being considered by legislators in the Land of Enchantment, “…would allow law enforcement to temporarily seize guns from people considered an imminent threat while people subject to a protective order would be prohibited from buying guns under house bill 87.,” according to a summary by CBS 7 News. Lack of due process prior to confiscation is among the many cited concerns.. Lea County Sheriff Corey Helton is among the many chief law enforcement officers who oppose the measure. “You’re just taking guns out of law-abiding citizen’s hands,” he explained to the station. “This is not going to affect the criminals out there…I’m proud to say I’m a constitutional sheriff and I’m just not going to enforce an unconstitutional law. My oath prevents me from doing that.”

Additional Reading:
Washington Officials Standing Their Ground
Fear & Loading: Countied Declare Themselves Gun Sanctuaries 
Fear & Loading: Illinois Sanctuary Counties Growing