TAKE A STAND AGAINST 2ND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY RESOLUTIONS
11:25 AM, Thursday February 27. Word went out from Theresa Turner, the co-lead of the New Jersey chapter of Moms Demand Action, a national organization working to reduce gun violence. Freeholder Lillian Burry and the rest of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders would be voting to pass a resolution declaring Monmouth County a Second Amendment Sanctuary County. Related blogpost:
What is a Second Amendment sanctuary? Also known as a gun sanctuary, it is a state, county, or municipality in the United States that has passed laws or adopted resolutions to prohibit or impede the enforcement of certain gun control measures perceived as violating the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“The majority of these resolutions are legally meaningless, but they undermine the rule of law, cause confusion, foster distrust in law enforcement, and may deter people from reporting individuals who may hurt themselves or others” ~ Elizabeth Friedman, MOMs Monmouth-Ocean
What laws does the 2A Sanctuary Movement oppose? Written and oral testimony of movement supporters give the impression that they oppose any law, regulation or restriction that they perceive as infringing on their Constitutional “right to keep and bear arms” – any arms, as many and as deadly as they please, with no limits, exceptions or conditions. They are against Nj’s background check and concealed carry laws, armor piercing bullet and high capacity magazine bans, permit regulations, and red flag laws, to name a few.
Are these laws unconstitutional? Absolutely not. “All of the laws in New Jersey are constitutional,” Turner pointed out. They have been upheld by the courts and are, in fact, fully in compliance with the Second Amendment.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
"We cannot get behind any effort to weaken our state's gun laws, even if it's just a non-binding, symbolic statement,” says Moira Nelson, who is running, along with fellow Democrat Michael Penna, for the Freeholder this November. “This tells us what the current board’s priorities are."
VOTE THEM OUT!
and . . .
Here are some things that Moms Demand Action suggest you can do if a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary type Resolution is introduced or passed in your town.
Share Facts! Common-sense gun laws save lives!
Write Letters to the Editors.
Write to your elected officials-your mayors and town councils. Template.
If you hear about a resolution please spread the word, read the Talking Points in preparation to attend the meeting, and wear your red Moms Demand Action Shirt if you have one!
The 2A Sanctuary Movement is planning to have a resolution passed in every county and town in New Jersey – including yours. It’s ok to make your opposition known in advance. Call. Email. Send letters. Use Moms Demand Action talking points or write out your own.
Freeholder Burry removed the word “Sanctuary” and changed the county’s about-to-be-adopted designation to “A Second Amendment Lawful Gun Owner County,” taking even more bite out of the already toothless resolution. It stops well short of stating that gun laws would not be enforced within the county’s borders but could still lead residents and law enforcement to falsely believe that gun safety laws no longer need to be obeyed.
5 PM – more than 30 members of MOMS Demand Action and other local supporters of gun safety laws arrived in time for the Freeholder’s meeting, surprising the officials who had worked to keep the resolution under wraps. Freeholder Burry was heard saying she was “sad” to see members of MOMS Demand Action gathered in and outside the hearing room.
She did give a warm welcome to the head of the New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Association, though. As one observer put it, “we knew then that the fix was in.” Another clue - published reports of the resolution’s passage came out before the meeting had even started.
Every day, more than 100 Americans are killed with guns. Another 200 are injured. An alarming number of Americans commit suicide using guns, and hardly a week goes by without hearing or reading about a young child shooting himself or another child with a loaded gun left unattended within their reach.
“The gun homicide rate in the U.S. is 25 times higher than that of other developed countries, but research shows that common-sense public safety laws can reduce gun violence and save lives.” ~ Everytown for Gun Safety Website
That is not the issue, Burry insisted. “The whole idea was to show our strong support for the Constitution of the United States,” she said at the meeting. She would not explain why the only portion of the constitution the Freeholders resolved to support was the second amendment. “Why not the first or the 14th or in this, its centennial year, the 19th?” she was asked.
While the Freeholders may have sincerely believed that a resolution establishing Monmouth County as “A Second Amendment Lawful Gun Owner County,” wasn’t about opposing gun laws, the folks from the New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Association and the 2A Sanctuary Movement clearly didn’t agree. Their members said they supported the resolution because they were “sick and tired of obeying gun laws” and needed restrictions lifted so they could “arm a militia against our impending socialist government.” Audio recording of the meeting.
All four freeholders present voted in favor of the resolution.
Why does this matter? Your board of chosen freeholders just chose to pander to a pro-gun special interest group and participate in a well-orchestrated and widely publicized symbolic gesture rather than to stand up for and support the safety and well-being of the lion’s share of their constituents. That includes you, me, our children, grandchildren, neighbors, and friends as well as anyone who has been touched by gun-related death or devastation.
This connection is not just my opinion or the opinion of Moms Demand Action or other such groups. Research has shown repeatedly that common sense gun laws like the ones the resolution seeks to undermine save lives. They prevent suicides, accidental shootings, domestic violence homicides and more. Go to https://everytown.org/learn/ for more facts.
Read: This Is Why the NRA Hates Gun Violence Research
The goal of 2nd amendment Sanctuary resolutions like this one is to weaken state gun laws and build a foundation for abolishing them altogether. Before the proverbial ink had dried in Freehold, word was spreading through social media, news outlets and blog posts - Monmouth County NJ could now be counted among the cities, towns, or counties that reject the enforcement of state or federal gun laws perceived to violate the Second Amendment.
Remember, that is not true. If you break a law in Monmouth County, the fact that you don’t agree with it does not protect or exempt you. As Jim Norton of Little Silver noted during the Freeholder’s meeting, the non-binding resolution had “no more legal weight than if you were to declare every third day of the week 'Taco Tuesday." Even the pro-gun special interest group that prepared, pushed for and publicized the resolution admits that it is non-binding and its passage largely symbolic.
Only time will tell if that symbol will be seen by individuals and law enforcement as an invitation to operate as if gun laws don’t exist or cherry-pick which gun laws should be enforced.