While lawmakers in Washington are discussing gun control, many sheriffs across the country, including Cache County Sheriff Lynn Nelson, say they don’t plan to enforce any new gun laws they deem unconstitutional.
“For me to tell some citizen that he can’t protect himself or his family is wrong,” Nelson said Thursday.
The Utah Sheriff’s Association met Wednesday and discussed the proposals announced by President Barack Obama last week.
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Nelson said about three-fourths of the sheriffs were in attendance, but the general consensus was that all of them were “very pro-Second Amendment.”
The association has since put out an official statement, in which the sheriffs in Utah have firmly asserted their stance on gun control.
“Malevolent souls, like the criminals who commit mass murders, will always exploit valuable instruments in the pursuit of evil,” the statement reads. “As professional peace officers, if we understand nothing else, we understand this: lawful violence must sometimes be employed to deter and stop criminal violence. Consequently, the citizenry must continue its ability to keep and bear arms, including arms that adequately protect them from all types of illegality.”
The statement, addressed to Obama, implores him to include Congress in the process instead of implementing changes under executive order, and concludes with a powerful message:
“We respect the Office of the President of the United States of America. But, make no mistake, as the duly-elected sheriffs of our respective counties, we will enforce the rights guaranteed to our citizens by the Constitution. No federal official will be permitted to descend upon our constituents and take from them what the Bill of Rights — in particular Amendment II — has given them. We, like you, swore a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation.”
Nelson said his signature will be on this letter to the president.
“I am not in favor of a lot of the measures proposed,” he said. “I just don’t think it is the answer.”
Nelson said the Cache County Sheriff’s Office is working closely with the Cache County School District to prepare an emergency plan for the schools in the event of a shooting, while deputies continue to train on active shooter scenarios.
Even so, Nelson said it is impossible for his deputies to be everywhere.
The Utah Sheriff’s Association is among a growing number of individual sheriffs or sheriffs’ organizations to take a stand in opposition to new gun control laws.
