I want to see pictures of funerals!
I want to see videos of funerals!
I want to see Obituaries!
I have seen as much of these as what I have seen with Sandy Hook!
Where is it all?
Where is the news coverage of weeping families at burials?
Anyone with anything can you link it here?
Lewis and some other sheriffs across the
nation, most of them elected by residents of their counties, say their role puts
them in the foremost position to stand up to gun laws they consider
unconstitutional.
“The role of a sheriff is to be the interposer
between the law and the citizen,” said Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer, an Anne
Arundel County Republican. “
He should stand between the government and citizen in every issue pertaining to the law.”
While the position of sheriff is not found in
the U.S. Constitution, it is listed in state constitutions: Article XIV of Colorado’s, Article XV of Delaware’s, Part VII of Maryland’s and Article XIII of New York’s.
Nearly all of America’s 3,080 sheriffs are elected to their positions, whereas most state and city police top commanders are appointed.
He should stand between the government and citizen in every issue pertaining to the law.”
Nearly all of America’s 3,080 sheriffs are elected to their positions, whereas most state and city police top commanders are appointed.
Upstate New York sheriffs don’t understand why the state passed the SAFE Act when, as they see it, the only place with a gun problem is New York City.
The governor signed the
act last year in response to
the
2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
One of the strictest gun laws in the nation, the act requires gun applicants to supply fingerprints and complete training to obtain a handgun license online.
It bans 45 types of firearms, limits magazines to 10 rounds and outlaws gun ownership for people who have been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.
He keeps a stuffed binder in his office with the laminated notes.
It ignited fire among sheriffs throughout the state.
Those in the rural areas all felt the way I did.”
The act was intended to establish background checks for ammunition sales, although that provision hasn’t taken effect.
One of the most vocal is Sheriff Tony Desmond of Schoharie County, population 32,000.
He believes his refusal to enforce the SAFE Act won him re-election in 2013.
Neither has the office of Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum of Ulster County.
Van Blarcum said it’s not his job to interpret the Constitution, so he’ll enforce the law.
But he said police should use discretion when enforcing the SAFE Act and determining whether to make arrests, as they do when administering tickets.
He enforces the SAFE Act but doesn’t make it a priority.
Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis is taking a strong
stance against potential limits to Maryland
citizens’ Second Amendment rights.
“I feel as an elected official and a chief law
enforcement officer of the county it would be irresponsible for me to say, ‘I’m
not going to enforce a law I personally disagree with,’” he said. “
If someone uses a firearm in commission of a crime, I’m going to charge you with everything I have, including the SAFE Act.
I won’t do anything as far as confiscating weapons.
We’re not checking out registrations.
People that are lawfully using a firearm for target shooting, we’re not bothering those people.”
Colorado made national headlines when 55 of the
state’s 62 sheriffs attempted to sign on as plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging
the constitutionality of several 2013 gun control bills in the state.
The most-controversial measures banned magazines of more than 15 rounds and established background checks for private gun sales.
If someone uses a firearm in commission of a crime, I’m going to charge you with everything I have, including the SAFE Act.
I won’t do anything as far as confiscating weapons.
We’re not checking out registrations.
People that are lawfully using a firearm for target shooting, we’re not bothering those people.”
The most-controversial measures banned magazines of more than 15 rounds and established background checks for private gun sales.
Weld County Sheriff John Cooke sits in his office in
Greeley, Colo., on June 6, 2014. Cooke was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit
against the governor when the state legislature passed gun control laws in 2013.
Cooke says the new laws are unenforceable and unconstitutional. (Photo by Morgan
Spiehs/News 21)
A federal judge said the sheriffs couldn’t sue
as elected officials, so Weld County Sheriff John Cooke and eight other sheriffs
sued as private citizens.
Cooke was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, which a federal district judge threw out in June. He and the other plaintiffs are preparing an appeal.
“It’s not (the judge’s) job to tell me what I
can and can’t enforce,” Cooke said. “
I’m still the one that has to say where do I put my priorities and resources?
And it’s not going to be there.”
Cooke has won fans with his opposition.
He, like Maryland’s Sheriff Lewis, keeps a novel-thick stack of praise and thank-you notes in his office.
He’ll run for a Colorado Senate seat in November and is endorsed by the state’s major gun lobby, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.
Lewis, who is running for re-election this
year, said sheriffs have a responsibility to push against what he sees as the
federal government’s continual encroachment on citizens’ lives and
rights.
“Where do we draw a line?” he asked.
“
I made a vow and a commitment that as long as I’m the sheriff of this county I will not allow the federal government to come in here and strip my law-abiding citizens of the right to bear arms.
If they attempt to do that it will be an all-out civil war.
Because I will stand toe-to-toe with my people.”
But Brian Frosh, a Maryland state senator and
an FSA sponsor and gun-control advocate of Montgomery County, said Lewis’
understanding of a sheriff’s role is flawed.
“If you are a sheriff in Maryland you must take
an oath to uphold the law and the Constitution,” said Frosh, now the Democratic
nominee for Maryland attorney general. “
You can’t be selective.
It’s not up to a sheriff to decide what’s constitutional and what isn’t.
That’s what our courts are for.”
Bronx County, New York, Sen. Jeffrey Klein, who
co-sponsored the SAFE Act, agreed that sheriffs who refuse to enforce laws they
disagree with are acting out of turn.
Constitutional sheriffs are not lawyers or judges, Frosh said, which means they are following their convictions instead of the Constitution.
“We had lots of people come in (to testify
against the bill) and without any basis say, ‘This violates the Second
Amendment,’” Frosh said. “
They can cite the Second Amendment, but they couldn’t explain why this violates it.
And the simple fact is it does not.
There is a provision of our Constitution that gives people rights with respect to firearms, but it’s not as expansive as many of these people think.”
But sheriffs have the power to nullify, or
ignore, a law if it is unconstitutional, Maryland Delegate Dwyer said.
He said James Madison referred to nullification as the rightful remedy for the Constitution.
“The sheriffs coming to testify on the bill
understood the issue enough and were brave enough to come to Annapolis and make
the bold stand that on their watch, in their county, they would not enforce
these laws even if they passed,” said Dwyer, who has recognized the sheriffs for
their courage. “
That is the true role and responsibility of what the sheriff is.”
Some rural sheriffs argue that gun control laws
are more than just unconstitutional — they’re unnecessary and
irrelevant.
In towns and villages where passers-by stop to greet deputies and call local law enforcement to ask for help complying with gun laws, they say, firearms are less associated with crime than they are with a hunting and shooting culture that dates back to when the communities were founded.
Edward Amelio, a deputy in Lewis County, New
York, shares that sentiment.
There’s no normal day for Amelio, who has patrolled the 27,000-person county for eight years.
But he usually responds to domestic disputes, burglaries and car accidents.
That’s why he considers the SAFE Act unnecessary.
“We issue orders of protection and some contain
a clause the judge puts in there saying a person’s guns are to be confiscated,”
Amelio said. “That’s mostly when we deal with guns.”
Zachary Reinhart, a deputy sheriff in Schoharie
County, New York, said he responds to a wide variety of calls, too.
“Our calls range from accidental 911 dials to
domestic disputes to bar fights,” he said. “
You can’t really typify a day at the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office. It’s all pretty helter-skelter.”
Violent crime also isn’t common in Wicomico
County, Maryland, where Lewis is sheriff.
He receives daily shooting reports from the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, which are not available for public disclosure.
Cooke was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, which a federal district judge threw out in June. He and the other plaintiffs are preparing an appeal.
I’m still the one that has to say where do I put my priorities and resources?
And it’s not going to be there.”
He, like Maryland’s Sheriff Lewis, keeps a novel-thick stack of praise and thank-you notes in his office.
He’ll run for a Colorado Senate seat in November and is endorsed by the state’s major gun lobby, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.
I made a vow and a commitment that as long as I’m the sheriff of this county I will not allow the federal government to come in here and strip my law-abiding citizens of the right to bear arms.
If they attempt to do that it will be an all-out civil war.
Because I will stand toe-to-toe with my people.”
You can’t be selective.
It’s not up to a sheriff to decide what’s constitutional and what isn’t.
That’s what our courts are for.”
Constitutional sheriffs are not lawyers or judges, Frosh said, which means they are following their convictions instead of the Constitution.
They can cite the Second Amendment, but they couldn’t explain why this violates it.
And the simple fact is it does not.
There is a provision of our Constitution that gives people rights with respect to firearms, but it’s not as expansive as many of these people think.”
He said James Madison referred to nullification as the rightful remedy for the Constitution.
That is the true role and responsibility of what the sheriff is.”
Rural versus Urban Divide
In towns and villages where passers-by stop to greet deputies and call local law enforcement to ask for help complying with gun laws, they say, firearms are less associated with crime than they are with a hunting and shooting culture that dates back to when the communities were founded.
There’s no normal day for Amelio, who has patrolled the 27,000-person county for eight years.
But he usually responds to domestic disputes, burglaries and car accidents.
That’s why he considers the SAFE Act unnecessary.
You can’t really typify a day at the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office. It’s all pretty helter-skelter.”
He receives daily shooting reports from the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, which are not available for public disclosure.
But the Baltimore central region? Homicide after homicide after homicide.”
People who live in a rural area also rely upon the police, but they realize that they live further out from those resources and that they may have to take action themselves.”
“In the last couple decades we’ve moved away from that towards a more-centralized gun control.”
“When I was five years old, my grandmother was raped,
and I was with her when it happened. I remember getting on the telephone and
dialing the operator and saying, ‘I need the police.’ And I couldn’t tell her
where, and I couldn’t tell her for who, and I was told to hang up and don’t play
pranks. At five years old, what do you do? You don’t know. A neighbor had heard
my grandmother screaming and took up his shotgun and ran to the woods and held
the person at bay that was raping my grandmother. I think that’s probably what
made me want to become a police officer. I didn’t want to see that happen to
anybody else.” —Sheriff Michael Carpinelli, Lewis County, N.Y. (Photo by
Emilie Eaton/News21)
Lewis bemoaned lawmakers who craft gun-control legislation but are ignorant about guns.
“They have no idea between a long gun and a handgun,” he said. “
Many of them admittedly have never fired a weapon in their lives.”
When I was younger, I had a .22-caliber gun. In the past, I’ve gone pheasant hunting, quail hunting. I
t’s great,” he said. “I mean, there’s nothing that we do in Albany, especially with the SAFE Act, that in any way takes away someone’s right to own a gun for hunting purposes.”
Oath Keepers and CSPOA
“There’s no way around it.
Gun control in America is against the law.”
“The people here they are like the original rebels that
rebelled against England. They’re strong in their thoughts. They will protect
themselves, protect their families and they cherish and respect their freedoms.
One of the biggest freedoms that they have is the right to keep and bear arms.”
—Sheriff Tony Desmond, Schoharie County, N.Y. (Photo by Emilie
Eaton/News21)
He knows his no-compromise stance has cost him and the CSPOA the support of some sheriffs and law enforcement organizations around the country.
And it’s resulted in civil rights agencies labeling CSPOA an anti-government “patriot group.”
His conviction is central to the ideology of CSPOA, which he founded in 2011 to “unite all public servants and sheriffs, to keep their word to uphold, defend, protect, preserve and obey” the Constitution, according to his introduction letter on the association’s website.
Mack serves on the Oath Keepers Board of Directors.
“I’m very proud that the people have put me into this
office. As I said, I ran unopposed four years ago and I’m unopposed again this
year. I guess I must be doing a good job. It’s an honor to serve the residents.
There’s difficult things at times. The SAFE Act is one of those difficult things
that you have to deal with and you do the best that you can and you try to be
fair to everybody.” —Sheriff Richard Devlin, Ostego County, N.Y. (Photo by
Emilie Eaton/News21)
Oath Keepers is larger and farther-reaching than CSPOA, with active chapters in 48 states and the District of Columbia, and an estimated national membership of 40,000.
Its website features a declaration of “orders we will not obey,” including those to disarm Americans, impose martial law on a state and blockade cities.
Detailed with links beside each name, the sheriffs’ stances run the gamut from refusals to impose a litany of federal and state gun-control laws, to vague vows to protect their constituents’ Second Amendment rights, to law critiques that stop short of promising noncompliance.
“Why are we being penalized? Why are we being crucified
because we’re standing up for our Second Amendment right? Why does everybody
look at us like we’re right-wing nuts because we’re standing up for our
constitutional rights?” —Sheriff Mike Lewis, Wicomico County, Md. (Photo
by Sydney Stavinoha/News21)
Only 16 of those 484 are listed as CSPOA
members.
Some sheriffs perceive Oath Keepers and CSPOA
as too radical to associate with.
Desmond, of Schoharie County, New York, is known around his state for openly not enforcing provisions of the SAFE Act that he considers unconstitutional.
Still, he’s not a member of either organization.
“I understand where they are, I guess, but I
just have to worry right here myself,” Desmond said. “
I don’t want to get involved with somebody that may be a bit more proactive when it comes to the SAFE Act.
I want to have the image that I protect gun owners, but I’m not fanatical about it.”
Mack is familiar with that sentiment. He suspects it’s hindered the
growth of CSPOA.
“This is such a new idea for so many sheriffs
that it’s hard for them to swallow it,” Mack said. “
They’ve fallen into the brainwashing and the mainstream ideas that you just have to go after the drug dealers and the DUIs and serve court papers — and that the federal government is the supreme law of the land.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights
nonprofit that classifies and combats hate and extremist groups, included both
CSPOA and Oath Keepers on its list of 1,096 anti-government “patriot” groups
active in 2013.
Both groups have faced criticism for their alleged connections to people accused of crimes that range from possessing a live napalm bomb to shooting and killing two Las Vegas police officers and a bystander in June.
Media representatives from the Southern Poverty
Law Center did not return phone calls and emails requesting comment.
Franklin Shook, an Oath Keepers board member
who goes by the pseudonym “Elias Alias,” said the organization doesn’t promote
violence, but rather a message of peaceful noncompliance.
“What Oath Keepers is saying is … when you get
an order to go to somebody’s house and collect one of these guns, just stand
down,” Shook said. “
Say peacefully, ‘I refuse to carry out an unlawful order,’ and we, the organization, will do everything in our power to keep public pressure on your side to keep you from getting in trouble for standing down.
That makes Oath Keepers extremely dangerous to the system.”
Self-proclaimed constitutional sheriffs hope
that courts will oust gun control measures in their states — but they recognize
that may not happen.
Lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of gun control legislation in Maryland, New York and Colorado have been, for the most part, unsuccessful.
In New York, five SAFE Act-related lawsuits
have yielded few results: One lawsuit resulted in an expansion of the magazine
limit from seven rounds to 10, but the rest of the measures were thrown out and
are awaiting appeal; a similar lawsuit was stayed; a third was thrown out and
denied appeal; and two additional lawsuits have been combined but are stagnating
in court.
Plaintiffs in the Colorado sheriff lawsuit are
preparing to appeal the decision of a federal district judge who in June upheld
the constitutionality of the 2013 gun control laws.
A lawsuit seeking to overturn Maryland’s
assault weapons and high-capacity magazine bans went to trial in July, but the
judge has yet to issue a ruling.
“My hope is that the governor will look at it
now that it’s been a year plus and say, ‘We’ve had some provisions that have
failed.
Let’s sit down and look at this and have a meaningful conversation.’” New York’s Devlin said. “
I personally don’t see that happening, but I’d like to see that happen.”
Desmond, of Schoharie County, New York, is known around his state for openly not enforcing provisions of the SAFE Act that he considers unconstitutional.
Still, he’s not a member of either organization.
I don’t want to get involved with somebody that may be a bit more proactive when it comes to the SAFE Act.
I want to have the image that I protect gun owners, but I’m not fanatical about it.”
They’ve fallen into the brainwashing and the mainstream ideas that you just have to go after the drug dealers and the DUIs and serve court papers — and that the federal government is the supreme law of the land.”
Both groups have faced criticism for their alleged connections to people accused of crimes that range from possessing a live napalm bomb to shooting and killing two Las Vegas police officers and a bystander in June.
Say peacefully, ‘I refuse to carry out an unlawful order,’ and we, the organization, will do everything in our power to keep public pressure on your side to keep you from getting in trouble for standing down.
That makes Oath Keepers extremely dangerous to the system.”
The Future of Gun Control Laws
Lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of gun control legislation in Maryland, New York and Colorado have been, for the most part, unsuccessful.
Let’s sit down and look at this and have a meaningful conversation.’” New York’s Devlin said. “
I personally don’t see that happening, but I’d like to see that happen.”
