More Communities Join Second Amendment Sanctuary Debate

AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

All over the country, communities are making a stand. They’re sick of big city politicians deciding they know what’s best for rural communities, especially when it comes to gun control.

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As time has marched on, so have the numbers of towns and counties who are refusing to capitulate to anti-gun dictates handed to them by urban elites.

Foster, Rhode Island is one of the most recent communities to make a statement in support of the Second Amendment.

Foster is the fourth Rhode Island town, including Burrillville, Hopkinton and West Greenwich, to became Second Amendment sanctuary towns in response to Gov. Gina Raimondo’s proposal for stricter state gun laws. Raimondo bills propose a ban on assault-style weapons, a limit on the number of bullets allowed in a clip, and prohibiting guns from school ground unless carried by a police officer.

Glocester and Richmond are expected to pass similar resolutions this week.

So that’s one more that has joined the ranks, and two more in Rhode Island expected to follow suit.

Not too shabby.

However, it’s not just happening in Rhode Island. At least one Maine community is considering such a measure.

During the public comment session at a Paris Board of Selectmen meeting on May 13, Paris resident Dennis Creaser asked the board to consider a resolution designating the town as a second amendment sanctuary.

Creaser said he was inspired to bring the proposal to the board after reading of several Rhode Island towns that have recently adopted similar resolutions. One rural town in the northwest corner of Rhode Island, Burrillville,  recently adopted such measures.

Creaser said his motivation is largely the same as the Rhode Island towns; he thinks that gun laws are tightening, and the “slippery slope” could one day slide to full-scale gun confiscation.

“I felt that with the current atmosphere in Augusta regarding gun rights, now might be a good time to try and implement our own similar resolutions, and possibly inspire other communities to do the same, and send a message to  Augusta that we really don’t find this acceptable,” said Creaser during a May 14 interview at his store, Creaser’s Jewelers in Paris.

“Pending legislative has nothing to do with preventing unlikely gun violence in Maine, but everything to do with special interest and lobbyist groups using Maine as practice and testing grounds for gun control efforts,” said Creaser.   He said the term specifically references so called sanctuary cities that violate, prohibit, or discourage local efforts to enforce immigration laws.  He said that if local, state, or federal entities infringe on second amendment rights, the citizens should be able to send a message. And he said a second amendment sanctuary designation does just that.

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This is glorious.

Now, I’m a law-and-order type, by and large. I’ve typically felt that the laws on the books should be enforced, even if I disagreed with them. However, I’ve also come to realize one important thing, and that is how the other side has been counting on that. They often pick and choose what laws should matter, heavily enforcing some and completely ignoring others, and we’ve been playing with one hand tied behind our back.

So, they wanted to ignore immigration law by not cooperating with federal authorities.

Now, local officials are saying they won’t enforce anti-Second Amendment laws. All’s fair in love, war, and politics.

If these cities want to show us that they respect the law, then end their version of sanctuary cities. At least our version protects American citizens.

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