In ‘2nd Amendment Sanctuaries,’ Officials Refuse to Enforce New Gun Laws

As gun control advocates see more of their proposed policies become law, another group with a decidedly different aim is also gaining momentum. It’s a loose network of local officials who are refusing to enforce the new laws, which include measures to require universal background checks, or ban assault weapons, or temporarily remove firearms from those deemed a danger to themselves or others.

In ‘2nd Amendment Sanctuaries,’ Officials Refuse to Enforce New Gun Laws Stephen_Halbrook_Jay-Printz_Richard_Mack_1088x725-700x470

In ‘2nd Amendment Sanctuaries,’ Officials Refuse to Enforce New Gun Laws Stephen_Halbrook_Jay-Printz_Richard_Mack_1088x725-700x470

The name for this new tactic is “nullification,” and the localities that are practicing it are calling themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” — a tactic that, ironically, was partly inspired by efforts to establish immigration and marijuana sanctuaries.

In some cases, county sheriffs have publicly said they will not enforce the new laws. This has happened in at least six states: Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Illinois.

In Washington, sheriffs in more than half of the counties have refused to enforce new gun regulations. One, Bob Songer of Klickitat County, has gone even further — saying he might prevent state and federal police from enforcing them.

In Nevada, one sheriff who recently refused to enforce a new gun law wrote a letter to the governor likening the measure to Hitler’s gun policies.

In other places, such as Weld County, CO, county or town councils have passed resolutions defying new gun restrictions. And gun rights advocates in some of these states, such as New Mexico, are also pushing for ballot initiatives designed to overturn new gun laws.

In most cases, county officials adopting these tactics serve in rural, mainly Republican areas of states run by Democrats.

Kevin Starrett of the Oregon Firearms Federation told WhoWhatWhy that these laws “are being passed by urban liberals who have the numbers.”

“This is done with no regard for gun owners and in fact an outright disdain for rural residents,” he wrote in an email.

Many advocates of these tactics have an absolutist view of an American’s right to gun ownership. That definitely applies to Starrett’s group, which bills itself as “Oregon’s Only No Compromise Gun Rights Organization.” Asked what specific gun laws his organization objects to, Starrett replied, “Not to sound snarky, because I don’t mean to, but we object to all of them.”

A Brief History of Nullification

These nullification efforts are not new; what is new is the increasing number of local officials adopting these tactics. Some previous efforts date back to 2012 and 2013, when massacres in Newtown, CT, and Aurora, CO, prompted lawmakers in those states and others to push for stricter gun control measures.
In response to such efforts, Sheriff John Cooke of Weld County, CO, refused to enforce new restrictions passed in 2013, and two sheriffs in the state of New York did the same in 2012.

More: https://whowhatwhy.org/2019/03/26/in-2nd-amendment-sanctuaries-officials-refuse-to-enforce-new-gun-laws/

Better than good

In ‘2nd Amendment Sanctuaries,’ Officials Refuse to Enforce New Gun Laws

A Brief History of Nullification

In ‘2nd Amendment Sanctuaries,’ Officials Refuse to Enforce New Gun Laws

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

Via AnCaps: Law & Enforced Unnatural Order