Monthly Archives: March 2021

1. Senate declares Oklahoma a Second Amendment Sanctuary state  KOKH FOX25
2. Senate approves measure declaring Oklahoma as 'Second Amendment Sanctuary' state  KOCO Oklahoma City
3. Oklahoma State Senate passes bill declaring Oklahoma Second Amendment Sanctuary State  KFOR Oklahoma City
4. Second Amendment Sanctuary State Act passes in Senate  Journal Record
5. State Senate advances bills that would make Oklahoma a 'Second Amendment Sanctuary State' and would expand gun rights in bars, in vehicles and while at work  KPVI News 6
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

Originally posted here:
Senate declares Oklahoma a Second Amendment Sanctuary state - KOKH FOX25

A new ordinance regarding the preservation of the second amendment was passed in Stark County last week.

Ken Zander, Stark County Commissioner, said, As you know theres a lot of politics involved in gun rights, gun ownership. The Second Amendment is constantly on the national news. People, not only in Stark County, but across this country that are gun enthusiasts, or not, or are hunters or just enjoy having a firearm are feeling threatened.

He feels that this ordinance will ease the mind of those feeling threatened.

The ordinance was introduced by Dickinson business owner Andrew Kordonowy, known as Kord.

He said, I had a person in the community find this legislation that passed in Newton County, MO.I thought it would be something similar that we should have done in Stark County being as we are such a guns rights county.

This ordinance will exempt Stark County from Second Amendment infringements including any act ordering the confiscation of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition from law-abiding citizens.

Stark County Sheriff Corey Lee says its just a part of the job.

As a sheriff, your duties are to protect life, liberty and property, and so obviously the Second Amendment, all of the constitution falls under liberty and thats all a part of what we do, Lee said.

Not everyone agrees with the legislation, though.

Former U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon disagrees and says it is not only illegal but a slap in the face to federal law enforcement.

Theres no question in my mind that if this illegal ordinance stays on the books, federal agents will not be assisting local law enforcement in the investigation of organized crime, Purdon said.

He goes on to cite Article VI of the Constitution.

The U.S. Constitution Article VI, the supremacy clause, says acts of Congress are the law of the land, he said.

When asked about gun control acts passed by Congress, Kordonowy said this: Government is instilled to preserve our rights, not to regulate them.

Commissioner Zander says he believes that federal funding will not be cut off after passing this ordinance, but they are willing to make necessary changes to come to an agreement.

See the article here:
Stark County passes ordinance protecting Second Amendment rights - KX NEWS

ROCK SPRINGS Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle said he wholeheartedly supports the Second Amendment Preservations goal to prevent Wyoming peace officers from confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens at the whim of the far-left in Washington, D.C. However, he is worried about problematic wording that he thinks could have unintended consequences that hinder law enforcement.

State lawmakers have expressed concerns that leadership and policy changes at the federal level could lead to guns being taken away from Wyoming residents. In response, versions of the act have been filed in the State House and State Senate. Sheriff Grossnickle said he would not enforce a federal mandate to take firearms from law-abiding residents.

My obligation is to enforce state law. As peace officers, our oath of office also mandates that we support, obey and defend the United States and Wyoming constitutions. In doing our job and defending both of these revered documents, I hold as absolute the right of law-abiding Wyoming citizens to keep and bear arms. I believe any attempt by the federal government to use Wyoming peace officers to infringe upon this inalienable right under the guise of federal law is treasonous and unconstitutional, Grossnickle said.

However, he is also seriously troubled by some of the ambiguous language contained in the legislation as proposed and introduced in both the state House and Senate.

Both bills declare that no person, including Wyoming peace officers, shall have the authority to enforce any federal law that infringes upon a persons right to keep and bear arms, the sheriff said. These bills also demand that anyone who knowingly violates this by depriving a Wyoming resident of their Second Amendment rights shall be held personally liable and made permanently ineligible to serve as a peace officer in Wyoming.

He said he believes the implications of these provisions as written are problematic at best.

In practice, it is commonplace for a peace officer to temporarily seize a firearm as potential evidence in a suspected crime. Under this legislation, if the gun owner is ultimately not formally charged with a crime or acquitted in court, then the person remains by definition a law-abiding citizen and the investigating deputy who seized the firearm has violated the law, he said.

As it stood on Friday, the sheriff noted that the law protects peace officers from being held personally liable for unknowingly violating someones rights or while acting in good faith in the performance of their official duties.

This legislation strips our officers of that protection. So, even if an officer is acting in good faith, or even has probable cause to arrest someone, if for whatever reason, the suspect is not ultimately convicted of a crime and a firearm was seized through the course of investigation, that officer would now lose their job, be held personally liable in court and be ineligible to ever again serve as a peace officer in the state of Wyoming, he said.

The sheriff said he knows without doubt that this was not the intent of this legislations authors to stranglehold Wyoming law enforcement, but this is what would happen if the bill is passed as written.

I believe these are the potential unintended consequences of a poorly worded bill uninformed by the expertise of our states law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, he said. The reality is that this legislation as written actually inhibits law enforcement from doing our job and paints our states peace officers into a proverbial corner by making them reluctant to ever seize a firearm under any circumstance or in any case or investigation out fear of making a career-ending decision and risking their entire livelihoods.

The sheriff said he has been in touch with a number of state legislators, including several co-sponsors of these bills, and expressed his concerns about this proposed legislation as currently written.

I intend to continue those meaningful discussions in an effort to ensure that this important piece of legislation represents a collective effort to stymie overreach by the federal government while continuing to protect the constitutional responsibilities and liberties of Wyoming law enforcement and the citizens we serve, he said.

Asked about the likelihood of the federal government passing laws that lead to firearms being confiscated by federal entities, the sheriff said he wasnt sure.

Honestly, these days the batteries in my crystal ball are dead, and your guess is as good as mine, although I expect given the partisan makeup of the U.S. Congress that the House of Representatives will continue to have its way with its progressive social justice agenda while the Senate will continue to act as gatekeeper to their unabatedly outlandish encroachments on our civil liberties as American citizens, he said.

Go here to read the rest:
Sweetwater County sheriff says problematic Second Amendment bill could limit officers - Wyoming Tribune

Published: 3/10/2021 7:25:12 AM

In his My Turn op-ed, (Monitor, March 1), James Fieseher contends that the same insurrectionists who brought pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails to the Capitol on Jan. 6, were too afraid of D.C.s gun laws to bring their firearms. Dr. Fieseher concludes from this that firearms regulations save lives.

He also sees the Second Amendments call for a well regulated militia as an invitation for us to heap on new gun control regulations.

There are problems with both of these assertions. First of all, Dr. Fiesehers reasoning that the same people who brought bombs to the Capitol in order to overthrow the government were somehow too law abiding to bring a firearm is preposterous. There was only one reported discharge of a firearm during the riot, and that was when a Capitol policemen shot and killed an unarmed women. Its more than likely that most of the rioters acted spontaneously, and were unarmed.

Secondly, when the founders were debating the Second Amendment, the term well regulated Militia had more to do with equipment and training, than the misconstrued definition of piling on more gun regulations. In other words, a more precise reading is: A well (equipped and trained) Militia. In his Aug. 3, 2016, My Turn, Welcome to the militia, former NH Supreme Court Justice Chuck Douglas states: The US Supreme Court also said that the conception of the Militia at the time of the Second Amendments ratification was the body of all citizens capable of military service, who would bring the sorts of lawful weapons that they possessed at home to militia duty. Furthermore, the US Supreme Court has defined lawful weapons as those that are in common use, which would include the AR15, the most popular rifle platform in the country.

Years ago, there was a famous law review article entitled, The Embarrassing Second Amendment. The authors, who were not pro-gun, concluded that for better or worse, the Second Amendment basically means what it says, namely, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

(Mike Briggs of Hopkinton is the former Director of Competitive Shooting at the SIG SAUER Academy, and a past President of Pioneer Sportsmen club in Dunbarton. He currently owns and operates New England Tactical, which specializes in firearm safety and proficiency training.)

Read this article:
My Turn: The Second Amendment protects 'lawful weapons' in 'common use' - Concord Monitor

At a future meeting, the Huron County Board of Commissioners will decide whether to further confirm its commitment to the Second Amendment.

Wendy Smith, a Bad Axe resident, has been gathering signatures for a resident created proposal for the commissioners to declare its support for Second Amendment rights, having gathered 1,465 signatures for the proposal in the past month.

During her appearance at this weeks county commissioners meeting, Smith re-read a letter she sent to the commissioners, which states while she is aware of a resolution passed on Feb. 25, 2020, that affirmed their support for the Second Amendment, it does not go far enough in countering red flag laws.

The Second Amendment is the only right that has been under attack for the last 20 years, Smiths letter reads. Its the only inalienable right that has been attacked without opposition. Twenty years of gun control legislation has infringed on our Second Amendment rights. It has eroded the true meaning of the rights our forefathers gave us.

The letter further argues that red flag laws do not make the country safer and that the real issue is mental health, in that instances where a gun has been used to commit homicide, the person has been found to be mentally unstable, a felon committing another felony, or someone who has no legal way to obtain a firearm. The letter also claims that according to the Michigan Department of Community Health in 2018, firearms are the 68th leading cause of death in Michigan, with heart disease and malignant neoplasms the top two causes.

We ask that you join us and pass a resolution that states Huron County will not sit by and watch its law abiding citizens be disarmed, Smiths letter ends.

Smith also read a letter from Huron County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Rutkowski voicing his support for the proposal, and saying that the United States is at a pivotal time where there are those who want to protect our history and those who want to destroy it.

Officials take the oath of office to protect the constitution, Rutkowskis letter reads. Our oath does not allow us to protect only the parts of it we like.

The letter further goes into how there are forces who seek to undermine the rights of religion, free speech, and the right to bear arms, the Bill of Rights addresses the tyranny of the British government, and the right to bear arms is not a lesser right than any others.

The resolution Smith presented to the commissioners says that they will declare laws and resolutions contending gun laws such as universal background checks, high-capacity magazine weapons bans, assault weapon bans, that red flag laws are in violation of the Second Amendment, that public funds will not be used to directly or indirectly restrict Second Amendment rights for Huron County citizens, and the county will declare its intent to oppose such unconstitutional restrictions.

The resolution also requests that copies be sent to every other Michigan county board of commissioners, the state Legislature, the governor, and Michigans representatives in Congress.

Chairman Sami Khoury noted that he also received six or seven pages of signatures in support of this measure.

The resolution was passed onto the safety committee for review before being presented at the next commissioners meeting. The commissioners did note that Smith did not provide sources for other statistics she used in her letter.

In other commissioners news:

The commissioners unanimously elected four members to the Mental Health Services Board to three-year terms.

They are Karen Currie, Patty Bock, Mary Anne Ney Carder, and Mary Babcock.

The commissioners also appointed Hank Weitenberner to the Region VII AAA Board of Directors for a three-year term, Gary Osminski to the Department of Public Works for a two-and-a-half year term, Julie Epperson, Todd Talaski, and George Lauinger to the Planning Commission for three-year terms, and Mike Eisengruber to the Economic Development Corporation for a five-year term.

View post:
Commissioners hear proposal on affirming second amendment protections - Huron Daily Tribune

SUNDANCE All 23 Wyoming sheriffs have voiced alarm about a bill before the Legislature the Second Amendment Preservation Act, or House Bill 124/Senate File 81 that they say, while intended to be pro-Second Amendment, has anti-law enforcement implications.

Its not intended to be anti-law enforcement, but it is, Crook County Sheriff Jeff Hodge said. The intention was good, but they need to talk to peace officers and prosecutors.

Were the bill to pass, Hodge said, it could turn an ordinary arrest into a career-ending decision for a peace officer.

While it does little to protect the average citizen and removes a protection police rely on, he said, it provides protection for one group: criminals.

The intent of the Second Amendment Preservation Act is to prevent firearms from being confiscated by federal entities under federal laws that may be passed in the future. It does this by holding state law enforcement officers accountable.

While the sheriffs have no issue with the concept, they feel the wording is flawed.

For starters, the bill states that no person, including a peace officer, shall have the authority to enforce any federal law or ordinance that infringes on a persons right to keep and bear arms. Anyone who does so knowingly or who knowingly deprives a Wyoming resident of their Second Amendment rights shall be held liable.

Another section states that anyone who commits the above-mentioned act will be permanently ineligible to serve as a law enforcement officer and immediately terminated from their position. The bill removes the qualified immunity that protects officers from civil suits unless it can be shown they violated statutory or constitutional rights a reasonable person would have known.

Hodge said Wyomings sheriffs were not consulted about this wording. Police could quickly have explained the problematic implications, he said.

In a real-life situation where a crime has been committed, Hodge said, a peace officer may seize a firearm as evidence or to prevent further harm. But if the case becomes federal and the gun owner is not convicted and thus remains a law-abiding citizen, the officer could lose his job.

Everything youre doing, youre always going to have that in the back of your mind, Hodge said. This could actually inhibit law enforcement from doing our job.

While the bill is intended to address situations in which federal laws are applied, Hodge said, its not unusual for federal law enforcement to become involved in local cases, such as child pornography, aggravated assault or child trafficking.

They might originate locally, he said, but they can expand outside of our jurisdiction so we automatically look for federal officers to partner with.

Another example of how problematic the proposed legislation could become involves self-defense, Hodge said. If one person shoots another in self-defense, an officer will seize the firearm used as evidence until the investigation is complete.

If the investigation is completed and it turns out to be self-defense, you have just taken a firearm from a law-abiding citizen, he said. You are law abiding until you have been convicted.

If it ends up going to court and hes found not guilty, hes still a law-abiding citizen so [the officer who seized the firearm] has violated the statute.

Its not difficult to imagine a scenario in which an officer feels reluctant to seize a firearm, even in a potential murder case, as doing so could end their career.

Even though we have probable cause to arrest, it can still get to court and be dismissed, Hodge said.

A letter signed by all 23 sheriffs to the Wyoming Legislature describes this as an impossible dilemma.

For example, the letter states, we could normally seize a firearm as part of a local case and turn the firearm over to federal entities for prosecution. These cases run the gamut of aggravated robbery, child pornography and various dangerous drug investigations.

The letter also expresses concern over the stripping of qualified immunity, which protects police from unintentional violations of rights.

The effects of the legislation would be immense, Hodge said, from huge increases in insurance costs to impacts on recruitment.

Hodge is concerned the bill, which is co-sponsored by 13 representatives and six senators, will pass as it stands.

The thought now that youre hearing from legislators is that, if they dont sign on to these bills, theyre automatically anti-Second Amendment, which is just absurd. ... Surely we can do good legislation and protect Second Amendment rights and be pro-law enforcement [too].

Hodge does not believe effective legislation caters to special interest groups: Good legislation comes from everybody discussing, debating and at times compromising. Being bullied into signing legislation over fear of special interest groups that likely do not have the best interests of Wyoming citizens in mind and are often not even from Wyoming should be very concerning to Wyoming citizens.

Hodge also worries about HB-117, which would prohibit private property owners from restricting firearms on their property. Again, the intention seems to be to protect Second Amendment rights, but he said it hasnt been thought through.

If you own a restaurant, you cant prohibit someone from walking in there with an AK-47 and sitting down to eat, he says. You cant restrict someone from coming on your private property with a firearm on.

That is an attack on private property rights, Hodge said.

As Ive always said, your rights dont trump another persons rights, he said.

Another bill on the horizon looks to repeal gun-free zones on school property. While Hodge said hes not a huge supporter of gun-free zone signs at schools, he doesnt think Crook County students would enjoy a junior high basketball game knowing someone on the sidelines had a rifle slung over their shoulder.

Because they can, somebody will, said Hodge.

Original post:
Sheriffs in stand-off over Second Amendment bill - Jackson Hole News&Guide