How The CDC Rent Moratorium Could Lead To More 2A Sanctuaries

AP Photo/Gerry Broome

The purpose of the Second Amendment Sanctuaries that have popped up across the country over the past few years is to ensure that law enforcement in those locales won’t enforce any unconstitutional gun control laws that might be imposed in Washington, D.C. Many opponents of 2A Sanctuaries have dismissed the idea that they’d ever be needed, but after Joe Biden moved ahead last week with a new CDC-imposed moratorium on evictions (even after the Supreme Court made it clear that Congress, and not the executive branch, needed to do the heavy lifting), demonstrates that the cities, counties, and states that have adopted Second Amendment Sanctuary policies are on the right track.

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And just like with the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement, some local law enforcement officials are already vowing to disregard the CDC mandate over constitutional concerns. In Wisconsin, for instance, Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling says he’ll enforce eviction notices if ordered, despite what the federal government says.

In a written statement, the sheriff’s department questioned the authority of the CDC director as an “unelected” government official, and noted that “duly elected” members of Congress had just days earlier allowed the eviction moratorium to expire.

The sheriff’s statement also asserted that a federal order prohibiting landlords from carrying out evictions constitutes an action to “take away their property.”

This is not the first time that the county sheriff’s department has resisted enforcement of public health standards aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19. Schmaling last year said he would not enforce orders from Gov. Tony Evers to close certain types of businesses or to require people to wear face masks.

As you can imagine, local Democrats aren’t happy about the sheriff’s decision. Racine’s mayor, congressional representative, and city council president have all weighed in on Schmaling’s refusal to comply with the CDC’s moratorium, even if the Biden administration is playing fast and loose with the Constitution.

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The government leaders said the greater Racine community must come together to battle the spread of COVID-19. In addition to the Sheriff’s Office, they called on Racine County judges not to approve any landlord’s eviction petition.

“The Racine County sheriff’s department has stated that they will continue to carry out evictions if orders are approved by a judge,” the statement said. “We hope and expect that Racine’s circuit court judges and law enforcement agencies will abide by the order, which carries the force of law, and honor the federal eviction moratorium for any and all residents who qualify for protection.”

As law professor Jonathan Turley notes, Biden has been praised by the far Left for “extraconstitutional commitment to social justice,” which will only encourage similar overreach in other facets of public policy.

When confronted on his unconstitutional strategy, Biden repeatedly reminded reporters that a pandemic is raging. Yet, just months ago, Biden declared his election would amount to the triumph of the “rule of law” and would show that “the flame of democracy” cannot be extinguished, “not even [with] a pandemic or an abuse of power.”

So, Biden is now blowing out that flame while attempting to excite political demands for extraconstitutional action. It will come at a great cost for the country and his own legacy. The oath that he took on Jan. 20 did not include an exception for political convenience. Indeed, it is often inconvenient to uphold the Constitution — but the alternative is a type of self-eviction on the basis of one’s oath of office.

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Based on the current makeup of Congress, Biden doesn’t have to worry about impeachment at the moment, but he should be concerned about how his executive branch power grab is going to play outside the Beltway. In Iowa, Mills County just became the sixth Second Amendment Sanctuary in the state after supervisors unanimously voted in support of the measure, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that number double in the next few weeks. Look for other conservative counties and communities across the country that haven’t already endorsed similar resolutions to visit the issue as well.

Biden is making it clear that he doesn’t see the Constitution or the separation of powers as any impediment to imposing his will on the American people, but he’s foolish if he doesn’t believe the American people will have a response of our own. We’re already using our state and local governments to push back against Biden’s federal overreach, and while his latest power grab isn’t directly related to the right to keep and bear arms, we know that the gun control lobby is already pushing the White House to try to ban AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles through executive action as well. Hopefully the courts will quickly squash the president’s latest abuse of power, but even if they do it might not be enough to stop Biden from once again trying to do an end run around Congress; this time in an attack on the right to keep and bear arms.

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