Can sheriffs/police refuse to enforce new gun laws? Oregon sheriff says his county will not

[Mrs. Overall]

enforce any new laws/regulations and will not "allow" federal officers into his county to enforce the new laws.

How will this sort of refusal be dealt with? These sheriffs/police officers seem to be breaking the law by not enforcing the law. I think they should lose their jobs.


from article:

(CNN) -- An Oregon sheriff says he will not enforce any federal regulation that President Barack Obama lays out in his package of gun control proposals Wednesday.

Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller joins several other public officials across the nation who have decided to square off with the White House even before it outlines what its plans are for expanded measures.

Mueller sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden this week saying he won't enforce any federal regulation "offending the constitutional rights of my citizens." He won't permit federal officers to come to his county to enforce such laws either, he said.

Mueller's defiant stand exploded into a groundswell of support. His letter -- posted on the department's Facebook page -- earned more than 59,000 likes and shares -- and was growing by the minute.

Over the weekend, Sheriff Denny Peyman of Jackson County, Kentucky, said that he too will disobey any directive from the administration. He told residents in a town hall meeting that the sheriff has more power than the federal government.

"They need to go back and study that. We are a commonwealth. I can ask federal people to leave, they have to leave. I can ask state people to leave, they have to leave," he said.

more of article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/us/oregon-sheriff-gun-laws/index.html

[upaloopa]

1. Well I guess we have to see won't we.

Sometimes I think it's bull shit to appeal to the fringe.

[warrior1]

2. cut off their federal support, all of it

[jberryhill]

3. Utter silliness

An Oregon sheriff is not going to be enforcing, for example, an import ban on any prohibited items.

This is all part of the delusion that police are going to be enrolled in house to house seizures, which is stupid.

[One_Life_To_Give]

4. They do all the time

Havn't seen a Lantern holder walking out in front of a car in a long time but the law is on the books.

[Scuba]

5. "He won't permit federal officers to come to his county to enforce such laws either, he said."

Bwaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaa.

[Berserker]

6. This says

it all.
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/letter-from-linn-county-sheriff-tim-mueller-to-vice-president/article_b95b8505-330d-5e9f-999b-1327d9c09fe9.html

In summary, it is the position of this Sheriff that I refuse to participate, or stand idly by, while my citizens are turned into criminals due to the unconstitutional actions of misguided politicians.

Respectfully,

Sheriff Tim Mueller

Linn County Oregon

[galileoreloaded]

7. Who really knows? See Printz v. U.S. (521 U.S. 898)

From Wikipedia:

"The political poles have reversed from Mack and Printz, especially after the attack on the World Trade Center; where Mack and Printz protected conservative local authorities from liberal federal power, it also now protects liberal local authorities from conservative federal power.

Professor Ann Althouse has suggested, retained in its strong form, the anti-commandeering doctrine announced in Mack and Printz "can work as a safeguard for the rights of the people";"the federal government might go too far in prosecuting the war on terrorism," Mack and Printz provides a circuit-breaker that might allow local and state officials to refuse to enforce regulations curbing individual rights. Moreover, "y denying the means of commandeering to the federal government, the courts have created an incentive [for Congress] to adopt policies that inspire [rather than demand] compliance, thus preserving a beneficial structural safeguard for individual rights," and "state and local government autonomy can exert pressure on the federal government to moderate its efforts and take care not to offend constitutional rights."[1]