Free Republic

The sheriffs thought they were being summoned to the Capitol to discuss ideas for changes to New York's gun control law, the SAFE Act. Instead, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told them to keep quiet. Opposition to the new law has simmered in upstate areas since Cuomo signed the law in January. Many county sheriffs oppose it, particularly its expanded definition of banned assault weapons, and have spoken out around the state. In January, the New York State Sheriffs' Association wrote Cuomo with an analysis, and later suggested tweaks. Cuomo invited its leaders to the Capitol last month, people briefed on the...

More than 100 people lined up to check out the handguns and rifles being auctioned off in Poteau on Saturday (May 18). The LeFlore County Sheriff’s Office auctioned off 264 weapons that had been confiscated and held in the department’s evidence vault. Sheriff Rob Seale said some of the guns were collected as far back as 1999. “A lot of them are weapons that have been seized in court cases that have been cleared,” said Seale. “A lot of them are just lost property that’s been found, property that’s been turned over by the owners.” The auction brought in potential...

DENVER (AP) — A group of Colorado sheriffs unhappy with recent gun control laws are planning to file a lawsuit to block them.

Way to go, Peach State! Gov. Nathan Deal yesterday signed S.B. 160 - a tough expansion of Georgia's H.B. 87, the Arizona-style law cracking down on illegal aliens, which passed in 2011. The La Raza lobby was left stunned and upset, believing Deal would bend to the prevailing GOP pressure for immigration appeasement in Washington, and veto it. They were sadly mistaken. Passed in the final hours of the General Assembly’s 40-day session - and despite fierce lobbying against it by ethnic intimidation groups, big business interests, and the ACLU - Senate Bill 160 was created to "fix" problems in licensing...

by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Sheriff Joe Arpaio is facing a campaign to recall him from office. They are collecting signatures, and already have more than half the required amount with two months to go. This follows a re-election campaign last year which saw unprecedented amounts spent on both sides, as George Soros committed $10 million to oust "America's Sheriff". Joe was forced to spend his entire 'war chest' of $8 million to (barely) hold onto office - the closest race of his career. Why?Why is the Left in America so focused on a single county's...

Phoenix -- Authorities are investigating what was reported to be an explosive device addressed to Arizona´s Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" known for his strict treatment of jail inmates and cracking down on illegal immigration. The device intercepted in Flagstaff late Thursday was in a package addressed to Arpaio at his downtown Phoenix office, the Maricopa County Sheriff´s Office said in a statement. It appeared suspicious, so it was X-rayed and the device was detected. A bomb squad team neutralized the explosive, the statement said.

This weekend, an email written by Ron Trowbridge, the undersheriff of Prowers County, Colorado, started sweeping some of the viral corners of the internet. It alleges that a Colorado State Police training encouraged law enforcement officials to look at Bible-believing Christians with intense skepticism. At first glance, the startling allegations in the letter, which was first posted on the conservative site Red Statements, were seemingly unbelievable. But TheBlaze reached out to Trowbridge to confirm that he wrote the note and to speak further about its contents. In sum, the undersheriff said that he, indeed, wrote it and that the version...

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is expected to sign into law a bill that would give the U.S. Secret Service "limited" police power while operating in the state of Colorado. The bill, SB 13-013, which has already been passed by both the Colorado House and Senate, has sparked a firestorm of controversy because of fears that the proposed power could be used by Secret Service agents, acting on behalf of the Obama administration, to arrest sheriffs in Colorado who refuse to enforce unconstitutional federal gun controls.

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. (AP) - State police say the man suspected of gunning down a West Virginia sheriff pulled a weapon on a deputy who shot him. Authorities didn't reveal the condition of the suspect, 37-year-old Tennis Melvin Maynard. West Virginia State Police Capt. David Nelson said Maynard was taken to a local hospital, where he remained Wednesday evening. Nelson said Maynard crashed into a bridge, held up a gun as he got out of the vehicle and was shot. State police say Maynard is suspected of killing Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum. The sheriff was gunned down Wednesday in the...

As sheriffs across the nation signal opposition to enforcing additional federal gun regulations, the Utah Sheriffs' Association sent a letter to President Obama assuring him that its members similarly will not comply. The letters insists that the rights of Utah citizens trump any new gun control measure that Congress might pass, and sheriffs in Utah are prepared to trade their lives in defense of their constituents' right to keep and bear arms.

Sheriff John Cooke of Weld County, Colorado has been out front in his opposition to the new gun control laws in that state. He led a delegation of sheriffs in testifying against the bills before the Colorado legislature earlier this month. Now he has announced that he doesn't plan to enforce the new laws - and he is within the letter of the law. "Why put the effort into enforcing a law that is unenforceable?" Cooke told The Denver Post on Monday. "With all of the other crimes that are going on, I don't have the manpower, the resources or...

by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Recent Border Patrol data suggest that the traffic flow of illegal alien across our Southern border may be starting to shift away from Arizona and towards Texas. Maricopa County's Sheriff may be a big reason illegal aliens are increasingly avoiding the Grand Canyon State. Last week Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies smashed a big human smuggling ring that brought thousands of illegal aliens in and through Arizona over the past 4 years - but won't anymore. Arpaio leads the 3rd largest Sheriff's Department in the United States, and - in stark contrast...

by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies have smashed a human smuggling ring that has brought hundreds and perhaps thousands of illegal aliens in and through Arizona over the past 4 years. The suspects are part of a suspected multi-million dollar illegal alien smuggling ring. After a five month investigation, Maricopa County Sheriff's detectives tracked the leader of a human smuggling operation to a home in Laveen, eight miles outside Phoenix. That's where they found the operation's leader, a man who'd already been deported eight times!That man  is 35-year-old...

by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he has a solution for the Federal government's outrageous mass release of illegal aliens: put them in “Tent City”!The thousands of mostly criminal illegals were let go as a political weapon by the Obama Administration against Republicans, supposedly due to automatic spending cuts — known as the sequester. But the illegals were released a full week before the potential cuts were even scheduled to take place, exposing the lie of Janet Napolitano's claims. There is also now a huge national backlash underway as the extent and danger of those...

Budget: Even before sequestration hits, the administration has been releasing hundreds of illegal aliens scheduled for deportation, jeopardizing public safety in a demagogic attempt to scare us into not cutting spending. 'I'm appalled to learn the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has begun to release hundreds of illegal aliens from custody, the first of potentially thousands to soon be freed under the guise of federal budget cuts," said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday in response to the release by Immigration and Customs Enforcement of hundreds of "low-risk" illegal aliens from detention. Well, so are we. We are appalled at...

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is calling proposals to seize firearms unconstitutional and warns of dire consequences if such plans are enacted. “This is about attacking the Second Amendment, it’s about going after the wrong crowd,”. Clarke blasted gun-control proposals triggered by presidential executive orders and said he would not enforce unconstitutional laws. “First of all, to me that would be an act of tyranny,”. ‘So the people in Milwaukee County do not have to worry about me enforcing some sort of order that goes out and collects everybody’s handgun, or rifles, or any kind of firearm and makes them...

Saratoga [NY] County Deputy Sheriff's Police Benevolent Association's letter to the New York pols who passed the so-called SAFE Act.

Springfield, IL. – The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association at their Winter Training Conference adopted the attached resolution which mirrors the National Sheriffs’ Association Resolution passed at their Mid-Winter Conference in Washington, D.C. Seventy-three Sheriffs were in attendance at the Illinois Conference held in Springfield. The Sheriffs also voted unanimously not to support the proposed legislation House Bill 132 that bans certain weapons. Sheriffs from across the state of Illinois believe that it is their responsibility and duty to uphold the Constitution including the Second Amendment. Rational law abiding citizens are not the cause of random acts of horrific violence in our...

by John HillStand With ArizonaHe’s known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff”. But Joe Arpaio continues to show he deserves the moniker of “America’s JOBS Sheriff”. Because every time Sheriff Joe conducts a raid, he frees up jobs for legal American workers. And at a time when raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are almost unheard of - Barack Obama has slashed workplace enforcement by a staggering 70% since 2009 - Sheriff Joe and his department keep on working to crack down on illegal aliens in the workplace. Today was no exception, as Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies raided Sportex Apparel in Tempe, AZ,  a custom-made...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — We're now hearing from Jacksonville's Sheriff about the Florida Sheriff's Association pledge not to uphold any unconstitutional legislation that restricts the Second Amendment. "You cannot legislate your way out of this problem," said John Rutherford. He sent out his own statement saying that he supported the proclamation, and says people need to realize it's not the trigger that's the problem, but the triggerman. "We've got to start having these discussions about this culture of death that we have created."