Posted on 10/09/2015 3:41:33 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence may want Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin to step down because of his Second Amendment views, but it appears the flap has, if anything, increased local support for the sheriff.
Douglas County Commissioner Tim Freeman was with Hanlin night and day as the tragedy unfolded at Umpqua Community College on Thursday, as victims were identified and grieving families and community gathered by candlelight. He watched Hanlin handle the media circus that descended on Roseburg and saw him answer the same questions again and again, patiently and respectfully, without backing down on his Second Amendment stance but without dwelling on it either.
Always, Freeman said, Hanlin diverted the topic back to supporting victims and families.
“He never lost sight of the importance that his role is in supporting those families and our community,” Freeman said.
Hanlin has filed to run for re-election in 2016. He has been Douglas County’s sheriff for seven years and served as a police officer here for 26 years.
So why did the Brady Campaign this week tell reporters Hanlin should walk away from the shooting investigation and step down from office?
In May, Governor Kate Brown signed expanded background checks into law. Sheriff Hanlin said he would not enforce them.
Detractors also point to a letter Hanlin wrote to Vice President Joe Biden in 2013.
In the letter, written just weeks after the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Hanlin said, “Gun control is NOT the answer to preventing heinous crimes like school shootings.”
Hanlin also wrote he would be violating his oath to uphold the Constitution if he enforced an unconstitutional law, adding that any law “offending the constitutional rights of my citizens shall not be enforced by me or by my deputies, nor will I permit the enforcement of any unconstitutional regulations or orders by federal officers within the borders of Douglas County Oregon.”
Hanlin has also come under fire for posting a Sandy Hook conspiracy theory video on Facebook. The video suggested the Sandy Hook shooting was staged by the federal government.
“This makes me wonder who we can trust anymore ... Watch, listen, and keep an open mind,” Hanlin wrote in the Jan. 13, 2013, post. The post was deleted, but not before several organizations captured pictures of it.
“John Hanlin has clearly demonstrated that his political ideology trumps his responsibility to protect his community,” said Brady Campaign President Dan Gross in a statement issued Monday.
Freeman disagrees with Gross’ assertion.
“People that are using those terms simply don’t know John Hanlin. Our sheriff is honest and fair and reasonable, and he’s everything that a community should want in a sheriff,” Freeman said.
There’s no indication that national criticism has put a dent in local support for Hanlin. A new Facebook page started Monday, called Sheriff John Hanlin Should NOT Resign, had already generated 4,343 “likes” as of this morning.
Melrose resident Gabrielle Randall wrote on Facebook that no one outside Douglas County should be telling locals how to vote.
“The bullying of our small community that is going on nationally by Obama and the Brady Campaign, is disgusting and completely disrespectful,” she wrote. “WE elected him, and only WE can recall him. Funny thing though....WE don’t want to!”
“Give ’em Hell John!!” wrote Tim Rummel of Roseburg.
Diane Muetzel Anderson, a Douglas High School graduate, wrote, “We love our sheriff and aren’t willing to give him up!”
Hanlin could not be reached for comment.
You SHOULD step down if you disagree with our Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.
Good letter to editor I read today.
Asked why we have single point entry and armed guards at our government buildings but not our schools. Are our politicians more important than our children?
Awesome truck, great sign!
Tell Brady and their fellow human garbage to FOAD. in fact, that should be the only response to any leftist. No sense explaining anything. They will only twist it.
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Uncle Miltie, thanks for these pictures—they do my heart good.
Keep ‘em coming!
I heard a quick quip on MSLSD where an on the ground reporter said there were just as many pro-0bama signs as anti-0bama signs, but didn’t show any pro-0bama signs, LOL!
Thanks, FRiend!!
These are my kind of Americans!
Like I saw up close and personal at the March on DC on 9/12/09 and a year later at the Capitol as well.
I’m ready for another March on DC!
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