Even as President Joe Biden has called for additional gun control measures, lawmakers across the country have continued to pass so-called Second Amendment sanctuary laws or resolutions, which oppose and even prohibit or impede the enforcement of certain gun measures by the state or federal government.
Proponents of “sanctuary” laws argue that many gun control resolutions are in fact a violation of the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Carroll County, Maryland became the first to explicitly use the term “sanctuary” in a resolution in May 2013, but it actually began a few years earlier when some counties found themselves in conflict with Democratic-run state legislatures over the issues related to the Second Amendment. To date, there are about 1,200 local governments in forty-two states that have adopted such resolutions.
Four counties in Iowa recently became Second Amendment sanctuaries, with Madison and Cedar Counties passing the resolution earlier this week, while Japser and Hardin passed similar resolutions earlier this month.
Sanctuary Parish Coming Soon?
Louisiana does things a little differently than most states and instead of counties the Bayou State could live up to another nickname: “Sportsman’s Paradise.” While lawmakers in Louisiana failed to overturn a veto by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards of a bill that would allow most people to carry a concealed handgun without a permit, a group of citizens is now pushing to make Pointe Coupee Parish a Second Amendment sanctuary.
“We’re just trying to ensure our Second Amendment rights to the maximum way that we can, without superseding state law or federal law,” Launce Moore, a Pointe Coupee Parish resident, told WAFB.com.
Moore, along with Elie Jarreau, are leading the efforts for the parish council to pass an ordinance that would support the Second Amendment in case any new gun regulations would be introduced at the federal level.
“You see it all over the news, (President) Biden wants the guns, this wants the guns,” Moore added. “You know, if it’s not true, great. If it is true, if they’re coming to this parish, they’ll meet total opposition.”
The efforts have the support of Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff Rene Thibodeaux, who explained, “They just worried about that, with the government that we have now, maybe there’s some concerns about gun rights and can they and or will they try to pick guns up in the future. They don’t want that to happen. And I don’t have many friends that I know that hunt, fish that want that to happen.”
Sanctuary Pushback: To Enforce or Not Enforce
While the Second Amendment sanctuary movement has gained traction across the country, officials in Tucson have made it clear they’re not on board and have said that actually plan to ignore Arizona’s new law that bars state and local governments from enforcing certain federal regulations.
Democratic Mayor Regina Romero and the Tucson city council are now at odds with the Republican-led state over how to regulate firearms sales and their use. Tucson has for years tried to enforce stronger gun laws than the state, and that has included mandating background checks as well as destroying seized firearms.
As a result, Tucson may disregard a state law that was passed essentially to disregard some federal gun laws. It probably can’t get more confusing than that.
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military small arms, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.
