By Mark Waite
Nye County Commissioners are studying gun rights resolutions passed elsewhere in the country for adoption to send a message to the federal government opposing more gun control.
They follow two gun rights rallies in Pahrump over concerns at the federal level about more gun control following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December.
An Elko County resolution passed Feb. 6, states: “The Elko County, Nevada County Commission in conjunction with the Elko County Sheriff will uphold the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and will act in conformity with our sworn duties as duly-elected officials charged with public trust and in conjunction with prior decisions by the United Court will not enforce any statutes, edicts, presidential directives or other regulations and proclamations which conflict and are expressly preempted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling.”
The Elko County Commission strongly urges the U.S. Senate to reject international treaties that will infringe on the Second Amendment rights of American citizens including the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, Inter-American Convention Against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms CIFTA or the UN Programme of Action.
The Elko County resolution states: “Neither the United States Congress nor the Nevada Legislature should entertain consideration of any new legislation that would infringe on constitutionally protected rights under the Second Amendment through any means, including additional restrictions on lawful firearms and accessories, or on the possession, use, sale or transfer of legitimately owned firearms.”
Elko County commissioners said Congress and the Legislature should recognize existing laws available to combat gun violence.
Despite the recent mass shootings at places like Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo. and Oak Creek, Wis., the Elko resolution states Americans are actually safer from violent crime than they have been at any time since the mid-1960s.
“Hopefully we’ll be looking at doing something for Nye County in a similar fashion,” Nye County Commissioner Butch Borasky said at a Feb. 19 meeting.
Borasky plans to announce at the next county commission meeting in Tonopah a resolution pieced together from different counties and municipalities.
Borasky wants to toughen a 1994 Nye County resolution to send a message to the federal government. That 1994 resolution quotes Article 1, Section 11 of the Nevada Constitution, which states citizens have the right to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and other lawful purposes.
It states: “in order to provide for the emergency management of the county of Nye and further in order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of Nye County and its inhabitants, every citizen residing in Nye County will be allowed to maintain firearms of their choice, together with ammunition.”
Borasky provided a copy of a resolution passed by Mesa County, Colo. Feb. 11 resolving not to enforce any unlawful and unconstitutional statutes, executive orders or other regulations and proclamations which conflict and are expressly preempted by U.S. Supreme Court rulings on the right to bear arms.
He also received a letter from Linn County, Ore. Sheriff Tim Mueller to Vice President Joe Biden in which he states: “any federal regulation enacted by Congress or by executive order of the president offending the constitutional rights of my citizens shall not be enforced by me or by my deputies nor will I permit the enforcement of any unconstitutional regulations or orders by federal officers within the borders of Linn County, Oregon.”
Mueller says politicians are attempting to exploit the deaths of innocent victims advocating laws that would prevent honest, law abiding Americans from possessing certain firearms and ammunition magazines.
Commissioner Donna Cox referred to a sample resolution suggested by the Nye County Republican Party Central Committee. It starts off with wording from the Second Amendment: “a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
The NCRCC resolution cites a few recent court cases in favor of gun rights: U.S. vs. Miller, which upheld an Arkansas man’s rights to transport a double-barreled, 12-gauge shotgun across state lines; District of Columbia v. Heller, a policeman who appealed to the Court of Appeals after the District of Columbia refused his request to register a hand gun and McDonald v. Chicago, that challenged a ban on private handgun ownership in the Windy City.
“The Board of Commissioners of Nye County, Nevada desires to adopt a formal resolution to preserve and defend the natural rights to self-defense, to keep and bear arms and ammunition for personal and public safety, security and defense,” the sample NCRCC resolution reads.
It continues: “The county of Nye, Nevada will not enforce any unlawful and unconstitutional statutes, executive orders or other regulations and proclamations which conflicts and are expressly preempted by the United States Supreme Court’s rulings on the right of an individual to keep and bear arms.”
The proposed resolution asks Nye County Commissioners to call upon Congress, the governor and general assembly of the state to preserve and defend the Second Amendment right to bear arms and Section 11 of the state constitution that gives rights of the citizens of Nevada to nullify any statutes, executive orders or other regulations and proclamations that infringe on the right of an individual to keep and bear arms.
The NCRCC proposed resolution goes farther than the Elko County one. It states: “Be it resolved that the Board of County Commissioners of Nye County, Nevada calls upon the head of each household within Nye County possess and maintain a firearm or firearms fit for personal and public defense, to acquire professional training in the proper use, storage and care of said firearm s and to maintain a safe household regarding said firearm s in an effort to prevent accidents and/or negligence resulting in damage, injury or other tragedy. Those lawfully exempted from owning or possessing firearms to be exempted from this provision.”
Bill Cairns, the chairman of the NCRCC, formerly hosted a nationally syndicated show on the Second Amendment. During a speech by U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner Feb. 15, Cairns said there’s no mention anywhere in the Second Amendment or Federalist papers that talk about background checks. He called it a back-door attempt at registering gun owners.
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- Horace Langford Jr. / Pahrump Valley Times – Gun enthusiasts show their 2nd Amendment fervor during a Jan. 19 gun rally in Pahrump that drew about 200 gun owners. A second rally last weekend drew less than half that many people. Politicians in small communities nationwide have said they plan to ignore any new gun laws.
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- Horace Langford Jr. / Pahrump Valley Times – during a rally on Jan. 19. A similar rally was held last weekend.
OK. Something positive. Way to go. Protect our rights.And you whiners, when the bad guy comes, look to me for help because I will. But leave my guns alone. They are not killing anyone in my closet unless you chase me there. Way to go commissioners.
Good job Nye County Commissioners. Its about time.
Of course go in the opposite direction of what a normal reasonable person would do. And by a normal reasonable person I do NOT mean the idiot teabaggers in this town. When Dean Heller spoke at the Republican womans annual event. He said that 90% of gun owners support a background check. So how many people at that event applauded? None. Zero. Nada. He was trying to send a message to the Teabagging fools in this town that it is THEY that are destroying the Republican party. Needless to say, his message fell upon deaf ears.
I beg to differ mrribbert.. it’s the paid lackeys of the RNC that are destroying
the Republican party.. The Federal Reservists aka the Wall St. Banking Trust
have BOTH the Democratic and Republican parties in their ‘pocket’
The Rove National Committee destroyed the Republican party by allowing the moderate crybabies to control the money and therefore the plank. They produced a slate of know nothing wimps without gnads, Mcshame,Romney,etc. to run against a Democratic slate of smooth talking, vote buying, crooks. Who’s gonna win that one? The future of the GOP is dismal. The future of the right wing conservative lies with either an existing party ie. Libertarian, or the tea party,(not yet a party) or a combination of both
Heller unfortunatly is either dumb as a post or trying to “save the children” by lying about the 90% of gun owners wanting a background check. The polls I”ve seen give you a choice ie. background check, assault weapon ban, capicity limit on magazines, or in Finesteins case ban everything but single shot cap pistols. So instead of ignoring the poll, some without thinking pick the lessor evil. Given one more choice ( enforce the laws already in place) background checks would become laughable. A more realistic figure would be about 9%. Does Heller know this or does he think we don’t? We are not fools. We ask the questions; who will pay for these background checks? How many criminals will be checked? Does anyone seriously think that a gun owner will do a background check on his son or daughter in order to give him/her a gun? I won’t. Only a nut case would believe that they can control over 300 million guns owned by 100+ million people with background checks. Besides it’s already mandatory to run checks on guns sold in stores but those records are destroyed after so many days, so there are no existing records of who owns a gun, (except pistols in some states). So there is no way of knowing who buys or sells a rifle or shotgun and too who. This is either a joke or a scam depending on how you look at it….. What a Crock!
A Republican politician looking to gain favor with those who sit on the porch and vote only for a person who wont “stir the water”, is doomed to lose. Stiring up gun owners is a sure way to defeat. Guess what folks even women own guns, aren’t afraid to use them to protect themselves and they vote.
Hey I have a great idea, lets declare Nye county a gun free zone. Boy that’ll show em… Bring in the clowns..
bungicord you posted some great points and your logic is undeniable. I would like to add that back ground checks keep no one safe. It is a placebo law that removes the rights from some in order to make others feel safer. convicted criminals will obtain a firearm in order to committ a crime regardless of wether it is lawfull for them to have a firearm or not. Back ground checks do nothing more than deny second amendment rights to the law abiding. Back ground checks do not keep guns from criminals. Further more our rights are God given irrevocable rights NOT Goverment granted privlages than can be Government revoked. The Federal Government needs to learn this basic principle of the constitution and so do many citizens.
Good move by the county commissioners.
I’m not sure the resolution would have any legal standing but it is important to convey our position to our representatives so they know how we feel about our rights.
To those, including the editor who use the word “teabagger” please, please know what that word means. It is a slanderous attempt at high school humor to call the Tea Party and those who believe in its principles “teabaggers.”
If you don’t understand the sexual connotation of the word, then please either do not use it, or look it up at urbandictionary.com. (Warning: R rated) Should you choose to use it after that… well your true character will be showing for all to see.
Finally I apologize to those who don’t know what the word means and now know. Sadly I may have lowered the morals of the ladies and gentlemen of Pahrump as some things just should have never come up out of the gutter to stain us all.
The reason I use the word Teabagger is because that’s the word they gave themselves when the totally fake grass roots movement got started. So who am I to change it?
Well, perhaps that’s the story you got told in Sonoma but the facts are, its the fringe militant leftists who created and use that term.
Sonoma? What does Sonoma have to do with anything?
Also, if the term Teabagger is offensive to you, then good. Because Teabaggers are offensive to anyone with an IQ in triple digits. You are offensive to America.
Of course, it’s a derogatory term, but when they came on the scene they were wearing tri-corner hats with tea bags hanging off of them and the looked like goof balls. Those who opposed their meat cleaver approach to budget cuts started using the term to make them look sillier than they already were. Now the Republican party has been hijacked by the fringe right and no one in the House or Senate dare do anything to anger them for fear of being ousted in the next primary. So nothing gets done and the political stalemate continues.
“…to send a message to the federal government opposing more gun control.” That’s laughable. There’s no one home in the federal government. Congress is only there to get a retirement not available to the rest of us citizens. Our right to bear arms is protected even if ‘arms’ is redefined by the progression of the 21st century. Do the police in Nye County support putting automatic weapons in every home where parents aren’t responsible enough to keep them out of the hands of their children & grandchildren & grandparents? We have a right to bear arms, not slaughter the innocent in 20 seconds or less.
What we should be talking about is not gun control, but mental illness. Of the last 10 shooters, 9 of them were mentally ill. Our Federal and State govs have dump the mentally ill on the streets over the last 40 years to save money. The majorly of them got there guns by stealing them, not buying them. We need to start spending money to house those who can not cope, instead of letting them run lose on our streets.