Posted on 11/09/2015 9:06:44 AM PST by Jim W N
Nearly a month after a tragic mass shooting shook Umpqua Community College, a rural Oregon county roughly two hours west of the school passed a measure directing the sheriff to bypass state and federal gun laws if he judges them unconstitutional.
Coos County residents smoothly approved the Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance on Tuesday with more than 60 percent voting for its passage. The ordinance bars public employees from using county funds to enforce any laws the sheriff deems unconstitutional.
It also prohibits enforcement of Oregon’s recent law requiring background checks on private gun transfers, including transactions between friends. County employees who violate the measure could face a $2,000 fine.
Rob Taylor, a retired optician who sponsored the measure, said the residents he spoke to while helping collect nearly 2,000 signatures to place the initiative on the November ballot were “thrilled†about it.
“We are a big gun ownership area. Coos County has the highest percentage of concealed carry licenses in the entire state,†Taylor told The Daily Signal. “They’re tired of having their rights eroded, and not just under the Second Amendment, all of their rights, so they were thrilled that somebody was trying to do something about it.â€
The National Rifle Association said the measure’s passage reflected a uniform sentiment among gun owners in the U.S.
“The ordinance passed in Coos County is a sign of the frustration law-abiding gun owners are feeling all across the country.†NRA spokesman Lars Dalseide told The Daily Signal.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...
This is a lot better than all the whining that's been going on too long. Time for action.
Of course there will be legal challenges. But the right to nullify unconstitutional federal acts is constitutionally presumed and supported by the Supremacy Clause and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. Time for action!
We need more of this across the nation.
I wonder what would happen if every county did things like this, and not just on this issue.
Amen Bro. At least it’s a start.
It is the only way back to the Constitution. Congress and governors all have the Right of nullification and the people have the DUTY to DISOBEY unjust laws.
“When Law ceases to be “Just” (virtuous), it ceases to be Law”. Our “Justice” system is only based on “..the Laws of Nature and nature’s God”===not on satanic or Marxist ethics which promote vice and slavery.
When ANY “law” is antithetical to the Constitution (IRRATIONAL) it is null and void-—and Nuremberg Trials reiterated that-—that we have the DUTY to disobey unjust (evil) Law.
MLK,Jr. stated the same in his Birmingham address.
It’s a good law, and since all gun control laws are unconstitutional (they all infringe on our God-given individual right to keep and bear arms), it should get a lot of use.
Can’t viably enforce a law if you have strong reason to believe it’s not a viable law.
Congratulations to the citizens of Coos County.
Let's hope that the Mayor of Coos County has pair of brass ones.
He is going to need them if he is going if he is going to make use of this ordinance.
Once he invalidates or refuses to enforce a state or federal law he is going to feel the weight of the world fall on him.
This is crazy. There is no rule of law for elected officials or government bureaucrats. They do what they want, enforce what laws they want with no repercussions.
Does this mean we can pick and choose which laws we abide by? Things are out of control.
Yes, but it’s important to know that our first line of defense of our individual freedoms is the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Law of the Land (which essentially codifies just law, at least regarding the federal government).
Article VI, Clause 2 states that the Constitution and those national laws IN PURSUANCE of the Constitution are the Supreme Law of the Land. Therefore, unconstitutional federal acts have no validity and are voidable and should be nullified.
The Oregon state and county have to battle out this ordinance, but at least this is a start. The root cause of this battle in Oregon is unconstitutional federal interference with state gun laws, just as the feds have unconstitutionally interfered with prayer and the Bible in state schools, state anti-abortion laws, and state marriage laws. ALL such unconstitutional federal action must be voided and nullified at the state level.
Bring it on Baby!
Link to text of the law? might help get it passed elsewhere if we can give our local legislatures a solid starting point.
I’d steer clear of sentimental MLK (or JFK) quotes and “support”. Both were “soft” socialists only because the time wasn’t ripe yet for the hard socialism we have now.
MLK was much more of the problem than the solution, as he called for sweeping federal government interference in our lives making the word “discrimination” a dirty word, when in fact “discrimination”, which means freedom to choose, is our heritage and God-given right. Discrimination is freedom and nobody has to like it.
Let’s have at it!
“strong reason”
Good, but not good enough. You need legal validity to void a law. The Constitution is that validity, at least against the feds. Although this is a state issue at this point, the feds are definitely implicated.
No, this is understandably saying that sometimes a jurisdiction enacts laws other jurisdictions find ILLEGAL, and sensibly declare in an organized manner “we shall not comply with that which you are not empowered to legislate.”
Put another way: yes, you can pick and choose which laws you abide by - and you may have multiple opportunities to debate the legality of those laws and why they shouldn’t apply to you. The county in question has decided that a certain category of laws is, on the whole, unconstitutional and thus (per SCOTUS standard) illegal and inapplicable, and rather than scraping thru the entire body of applicable law to decide what to do about which ones that may be found objectionable, they give the “end point” of law - the Sheriff - the power to do something he already is empowered to do: ignore and not enforce laws he believes illegal or unenforceable.
It’s not out of control (yet). Enacted law is not perfect, and may suffer internal inconsistencies. Identifying those inconsistencies/contradictions/flaws/errors/etc is valid, as is declaring & debating their inapplicability.
Remember: police may act as “law enforcement”, but they are NOT lawyers/judges - they know the law generally well enough to rationally act on probably violations thereof, but are absolutely empowered to _ignore_ instances where they think it should be ignored (ex.: “I know you blew a 0.09bac which is illegal while driving, but I know you’re an otherwise upstanding citizen driving very carefully a short distance and you’re almost home - don’t be stupid again and I’ll let you off this time” or “I know this gun is prohibited by description & name, but because you’re an otherwise upstanding citizen exercising your clearly enumerated 2nd Amendment rights I’ll ignore the fact you have a select-fire M16 - don’t be stupid and give me reason to deal with you & it again”).
pass a law so a chief LEO can determine if an unconstitutional law should be void or enforced?? The Constitution of the US is not now nor ever been an abstract document. The governors of every state and every public official from there down needs to be held strictly to their oath of office. If they DO NOT defend and protect our Constitution they need to be removed, post haste. This needs to apply to those in DC as well.
The county will have to persuade the voters of Oregon to repeal the state anti-gun laws. The Second Amendment is pointed directly at the FEDS, not the states, despite what the Left says. The BIG issue is the feds have NO constitutional authority to interfere at all with state gun laws.
Does that mean that Barack H. Obama, TFITWH...really thinks all Constitutional Law is evil...sure seems that way.
This isn’t about the Constitution being “abstract” but who the Constitution protects, who it stands against, and who may enforce it.
The ONLY valid federal act is one that is constitutional. NOTHING in the Constitution says the feds are the only ones to say something is or isn’t constitutional. In fact the presumptions of the Constitution along with the Supremacy Clause and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments SUPPORT state nullification of unconstitutional federal acts.
Here, Oregon is going to have to battle this issue out. But the feds have NO constitutional authority to interfere AT ALL.
you made my point
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