The highest Law Enforcement Authority in any given area is the County Sheriff. He is an elected official and thus has more authority than any appointed commissioner or chief. This is by design. He is the arbiter of law enforcement and sets the tone for how laws are enforced in his area.
Most Sheriff’s are solid patriots that hold the Constitution close to their hearts. As do all patriots in our Nation.
In the light of the recent political dialogs, we feel a great pressure against the Constitution, specifically against the Second Amendment. Most of the new regulations that are threatening our rights are not applied to Law Enforcement. Famously, the New York 7 Round restriction was not written to exempt Law Enforcement and it was quickly altered. Weapon types, Magazine restrictions, all of these Reasonable Infringements on That Which Must Not Be Infringed, are Law Enforcement Exempt, and only apply to “Civilians”.
Let me make something very clear. Law Enforcement Officers are Civilians as well. A Local PD Officer or Sheriff’s Deputy, for all their authority, are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the UCMJ. As such, they themselves are also “Civilians”. They are US and we are Them.
The Sheriff and his deputies swear Oaths, just like those of us who enlist… to uphold and defend the US Constitution and the Rights of the People.
Here is how you do it. The Sheriff has the right to appoint special deputies. I submit that the Sheriff’s in Utah swear in everyone with a Concealed Carry Permit and everyone else he knows to be a Patriotic American that is legal to buy a gun and carry it… Swear them in as Volunteer “Special Reserve Deputies”. Put them in a Roster and assign them a Badge Number. Thus doing so, any Federal Regulation that would effect the masses, would not effect them. Allow these people also to purchase a “Badge” of some sort with that number. This also will serve as a National Carry Permit. This way, the Sheriff’s Constituents, and Citizens, can travel anywhere while being Armed and Safe, thus increasing their safety and the safety of those around them.
All of this would only take the Sheriff a moment and for the Department to keep an extra Spreedsheet file. So if someone is stopped, the officer doing the stopping can verify that the person is on file and is legal to carry, just like they already do.
They could even allow these Patriotic Citizens to attend, at their own cost, training classes, which could in effect help pay for the training for the rest of the department. I am pretty sure that in our local county, it could pay for the training of the deputies themselves and then some.
This would cement the relationship of the Deputies with the Citizens and foster much greater cooperation between the Agency and the Public. This also gives the Sheriff an large roster of willing people to call immediately in the face of an emergency or other event that could overwhelm the capabilities of the department.
A Sheriff doing this, would also pretty much never have to worry about getting re-elected and would then be able to focus on what he was elected for and not have to play the politician every four years and waste that time and money… as long as he serves the public well. And in doing this, he would.
I think that many sheriffs are remembering their position.
They are not only law enforcement, they are THE law enforcement.
This is why I pay more attention to local elections than state or national.
And why I cant believe how many people mostly ignore the local races and just focus on “The Big Picture”.
Sorry guys, the people who have the closest interaction and who’s actions most directly effect your lives are “The Big Picture”.
Jim
That’s very true, Jim. Always look at the Local stuff. Very critical things can happen on the local level. And these are the votes that matter the most.
Alaska has no counties, and thus no county sheriffs…. This too, is by design. 8^(
That’s one of the best, most practical ideas I’ve heard in a long time. Along with helping law enforcement, it would raise the citizenship-consciousness of a good-sized segment of the general public — and at the same time most likely raise the level of firearm proficiency for that same segment of the citizenry, making us all safer.
That’s a great way of fundamentally transforming the country into the citizen-involved constitutional republic it was designed to be.
The Utah Sheriff’s Association has issued an open letter to President Obama:
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
We, the elected sheriffs of Utah, like so many of our fellow Americans, are literally heartbroken for the loved ones of the murdered victims in Connecticut. As Utahans, we are not strangers to this kind of carnage—one of the latest being the 2007 Trolley Square murders wherein nine innocents were gunned down—five losing their lives . . .
We also recognize the scores of other recent domestic massacres, which have decimated countless honorable lives. As Americans, we value the sanctity of life. Furthermore, similar to our inspired Founders, we acknowledge our subservience to a higher power.
With the number of mass shootings America has endured, it is easy to demonize firearms; it is also foolish and prejudiced. Firearms are nothing more than instruments, valuable and potentially dangerous, but instruments nonetheless. Malevolent souls, like the criminals who commit mass murders, will always exploit valuable instruments in the pursuit of evil. 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.
As your administration and Congress continue to grapple with the complex issue of firearm regulations, we pray that the Almighty will guide the People’s Representatives collectively. For that reason, it is imperative this discussion be had in Congress, not silenced unilaterally by executive orders. As you deliberate, please remember the Founders of this great nation created the Constitution, and its accompanying Bill of Rights, in an effort to protect citizens from all forms of tyrannical subjugation.
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.
The Utah Sheriffs’ Association
(signed by 29 members)
Only the Sheriff of Salt Lake County, Jim Winder, has not signed it. Every other Counties’ Sheriff has. Write him.
Awesome.
It is a good letter except that it also makes the mistake of taking the position that our Rights are granted BY the Constitution/ Bill of Rights, this is not true. Our right to keep and bear arms is a Natural Right and exists outside of any societial construct. This right as with all other such rights can only be PROTECTED by the government and may only be denied to a citizen under specific circumstances that are defined in the Constitution. This is a critical distinction.
” 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.”