Lincoln County Idaho Commissioners Decide Against a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary Resolution

Gun control is becoming a major talking point again in the United States.

President Joe Biden on Sunday made the following statement about gun control and his desire for Congress to bring something to his desk when he said,

This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer. Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now.

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Meanwhile, in Idaho, a number of cities and counties have passed resolutions declaring their respective localities as “2nd Amendment Sanctuaries.”

Star, Eagle, Greenleaf, and Nampa are just a few of the places that have passed 2nd Amendment Sanctuary resolutions. Other cities such as Fairfield are also considering similar resolutions.

However, the Lincoln County Commissioners here in Idaho had a meeting this morning and decided against doing a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary resolution.

During the meeting, Commissioner Rebecca Wood said that they had received many phone calls and emails regarding a potential resolution. Additionally, she said she had several different versions that were sent to her.

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Wood said that the Sheriff had some concerns about the wording in some of them and mentioned that they may have some loopholes for bad guys. She invited Lincoln County Prosecutor Richard Roats and Sheriff R. King if to come up and say a few words.

Roats was the first one to speak.

Roats says that one main question is whether or not the resolutions being passed are necessary given Idaho’s constitutional protections for the right to keep and bear arms as well as the state law passed in 2014 which was Idaho’s version of the “Second Amendment Protection Act.” Roats felt that passing a resolution would not add any additional benefit to the citizens.

Another concern Roats brought up is whether or not, after the passage of the resolution, a new law was introduced that bans other people from possessing or owning firearms who may be convicted of a certain crime or have certain mental issues that are not in current law and if they wouldn’t be able to enforce the law because of the resolution.

Roats concluded by saying,

I don’t think any of this is necessary in the first place to give us any more protections. I’m more concerned now that if we do this, where does that put us if in fact there’s a minor change or a tweak in the law that is then determined to be after the date that we cannot then enforce it.

Sheriff King then addresses the commissioners and says that at first he was on board with doing a resolution because the citizens wanted to see something done but after talking with the prosecutor, he felt it wasn’t necessary.

Commissioner Roy Hubert then asks if the county should maybe just put out a statement of support for the 2nd Amendment.

Prosecutor Roats says that it wouldn’t be necessary. Additionally, he said it is part of their oath and why is the 2nd Amendment being singled out for a statement of support.

Why would we put a greater emphasis on the right to bear arms versus the 4th Amendment protections or 5th Amendment protections?

Commissioner Joann Rutler said about the possible resolution,

I really don’t have any comment other than, I think what Richard (Prosecutor) is saying makes sense to me and the Sheriff. The state already covers this.

Finally, Commissioner Wood said during the closing of the discussion that she didn’t have an issue with the resolution but felt that it was a “showboat” move to get in the news. She felt that the state law was sufficient enough to protect the right to keep and bear arms.

Wood addressed the crowd that they were in favor of the right to keep in bear arms.

Idaho Dispatch reached out Seth Rosquist, Chairman for the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, about the county not taking up the resolution. Rosquist told us,

The county certainly doesn’t have to pass a resolution and a resolution has no legal binding. However, this is not the time to let your citizens know you aren’t hearing their concerns. Sure, the state of Idaho is a ‘2nd Amendment Sactuary’ but as we have seen in cities like Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint, there are localities in Idaho that aren’t doing everything they can to protect gun owners. We are suing the city of Sandpoint right now for violating the right to keep and bear arms of several Idaho citizens.

At a time when the right to keep and bear arms is in more jeopardy than it ever has been, why wouldn’t you want to put out a statement or resolution to make sure the people you represent know you are behind them 100%? Why not tell them that your county/city and the local law enforcement will stand by them? What if the state caves on some form of gun control all of a sudden? Then what?

This seems like a missed opportunity for the Lincoln County government to stand by their citizens despite whatever laws are currently in place. We have the 2nd Amendment and yet thousand and thousands of gun control laws exist in this country. So, there can never be enough protection, real or symbolic, for gun owners.

You can watch the meeting for yourself on the Lincoln County Idaho Facebook page below. The conversation starts about 26 minutes in:

https://www.facebook.com/lincolncountyid/videos/441279163959926/ 

What do you think of the 2nd Amendment Sanctuary movement in Idaho? Is it necessary or not?

Let us know in the comments below.