Oregon sheriff to VP: I won't enforce any new gun laws
»Play Video
ALBANY, Ore. - The sheriff of an Oregon county sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden on Monday saying he and his deputies would not enforce - nor allow federal officials to enforce - any new federal firearms laws in his county, according to a copy of the letter posted on the Linn County Sheriff's Office website.
"Politicians are attempting to exploit the deaths of innocent victims by advocating for laws that would prevent honest, law abiding Americans from possessing certain firearms and ammunition magazines," Sheriff Tim Mueller wrote in the letter dated January 14, 2013. "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.
"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," Mueller said.
Crook County Sheriff Jim Hensley said Tuesday he sent the same letter to Biden that was sent Monday by Linn County Sheriff Mueller.
Hensley told KTVZ officials should consider other factors that may have a role in mass shootings, such as violent video games.
Reached by phone on Monday afternoon, Mueller said he decided to write the letter after he and his deputies kept hearing questions from Linn County residents about their positions on the gun control debate.
“I told my deputies, ‘Hey look, I’m not going to turn otherwise honest citizens into criminals because of some misguided efforts from the U.S. Capitol,’” Mueller said.
He added he wants to “let people know that we’re here to stand up for them.”
“Whether it’s the Second Amendment or the First Amendment, it doesn’t make any difference to me. It’s just that I don’t think Congress should enact any of those types of restrictive laws and regulations, be it from Congress or executive order, that offends the constitutional rights of otherwise responsible and honest citizens,” Mueller said.
The sheriff compared his decision to not enforce any potential gun laws to the restrictions on local law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration laws.
He said if his deputies are told not to enforce those federal laws, it’s unreasonable to expect them to enforce any federal gun laws.
Mueller said he’s heard from a few critics already, but they were all from outside Linn County. As of 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday, the Facebook post with the letter had more than 28,000 shares and 23,000 “likes.”
“That’s the good thing about this country. We can have decent conversations that go back and forth without resorting to name-calling and that sort of stuff,” Mueller said. “People are entitled to their opinions and I have mine, both professionally and personally, and I made this one pretty well known.”
President Barack Obama is set to announce Wednesday his plan to curb gun violence in the United States. The plan is being hailed as the nation's most sweeping effort to curb gun violence in nearly two decades. Obama will urge a reluctant Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines like those used in last month's massacre of 20 elementary school children in Newtown, Conn.
The broad package Obama will announce is also expected to include more than a dozen steps the president can take on his own through executive action. Those measures will provide a pathway for skirting opposing lawmakers, but they will be limited in scope, and in some cases, focused simply on enforcing existing laws.
Obama will announce his proposals in a midday event at the White House, flanked by children who wrote to him about gun violence following the massacre of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Law enforcement officials, mayors from across the country and supportive congressional lawmakers are also expected to attend.
Obama has pledged urgent action to prevent future mass shootings, and his plan — coming just one month after the Newtown attacks — is swift by Washington standards.
The president's framework is based on recommendations from Vice President Joe Biden, who led a wide-ranging task force on gun violence. Beyond the gun control measures, Biden also gave Obama suggestions for improving mental health care and addressing violent images in video games, movies and television.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
that was not what i meant. i love you it was so hard. MY LIFETIME. I wish i could talk to you and everything would be allright.
i love you branden and it gets so hard to do allright.
No background checks on anybody, great idea.
Regulation IS infringement ...but it gets better... Status Update By Oregon Sheriffs upholding the 2nd. 100% letters received: Linn, Crook, Grant, Douglas, Coos, Curry Josephine. Deschutes ( we have heard), Marion & Yamhill..soft but are behind the 2nd and will protect the ppl. Other names have been mentioned But we have not posted a letter from the Sheriff, yet.
I can see how this debate is slowly going downhill to ludicrous and offensive accusations about the President that myself (and the majority) voted into office so I'm done here. I will only say one last thing. People are entitled to their beliefs, but there is a big difference between debatable topics (such as whether the Sheriff went about expressing himself the right way) and there are simple facts that cannot be debated (such as the fact that regulating guns is NOT a violation of the 2nd amendment). Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean you can make it not true, and just because You don't like who was elected as the president, that doesn't mean he wasn't fairly elected by MAJORITY. Get over it.
Good for these lawmen!
I have sent an e-mail to both Sheriff Mueller, of Linn County, and Sheriff Jim Hensley, of Crook County (who sent a similar letter to the VP) thanking them for their strong support of the 2nd Amendment and the US constitution. If you google the Sheriffs, you'll find e-mail links on their county's website.
i agree with the sheriff guns don't kill people people kill people a gun % of the guns that are used are stolen or bought illegally so why punish the people who are responsible and obey the law because criminals don't care about the law they will steal them to do it if people had them properly locked with a combo gun cabnit then there might be less but wait our government supplied the al qaeda with assault rifles in the 70's and 80's then we give syrians firearms then we give mexican cartels firearms but wait our 2nd amendment is going to be violated by somebody who cannot produce a valid birth certificate and only got voted twice cause he pulled the race card cause he is black. the 2nd amendment was put in place so we the people could keep the government in check maybe we do need to put them in check
The constitution does not say that guns shouldn't be regulated. This is not against the 2nd amendment. Stop with the impeachment BS or "they will take it from my dead cold hands" crap. The law is the law.
I agree with you Marc. Where do you draw the line on what sould be acceptable? We're not talking about taking away all American's guns here.
He's not refusing to do his job, Sheriff trumps federal, he's just deciding the federal law isn't worth upholding!!!!! He's doing his job as he should be!!
Pretty dumb. The Supreme Court has made multiple definitions of what "arms" are and they have not been added or removed to the Constitution. Makes me wonder how the sheriff feels about arresting a person with a sawed-off shotgun in thier coat. Or a working cannon used for home protection. After all these are all cases which had to be settled by the Supreme Court.
Personally I think the problem of gun violence is more complicated that just making stricter gun laws, but unfortunately truly addressing the issue would require a lot of spending in the public health sector. You see a lot of cases where these damaged people are reported by someone as being dangerous, and nothing can be done about it. Gun control is not the answer. People control is, but I still think this Sheriff is just going about it the wrong way. Letter of complaint, good thing, but refusing to do your job is not so good. as I saw stated above, it sets a bad precedent.
Ok John, I'm not saying I agree with the laws, what I'm saying is that it is not a good idea for someone who represents the upholding of the laws to just flat out refuse to do so. I agree that stricter gun laws is probably not the answer. In fact I know gun owners who have these kinds of weapons and I trust them implicitely, but this is not about that. This is about supporting the government officials that WE elected, and if we don't agree with the decisions made, to go about apposing it in a responsible way. If we don't like the new laws, file a petition and figure out some alternatives that might work better. Personally I think assault rifles are not a neccessity. They are a little excessive. Do I think that means people shouldn't have the right to own them? No. However, we have to support our government officials, or elect them out of office. Without laws and political process there would be chaos.
I read somewhere that Wyoming has given an official statement that any Federal officers who attempt to enforce a gun ban in their state will be arrested and imprisoned for up to two years.
I agree with him and support him in his decision. Having said that, I do think it will ultimately cost him his job and maybe his freedom too if they find a way to bring charges against him for failing to do the job he was elected to do in upholding the laws even if he doesn't agree with them. He has a lot of courage that's for sure! I for one am scared to think of what may come next if they succeed in taking all our gun ownership rights away. We may all find ourselves faced with similar decisions to that of this sheriff.
Thank you.
Chicago banned all handguns . Thre has been more gun deatths there than the Afghan war. When will people figure out that criminals don't follow "bans"?
he was elected to up hold laws not just the ones he chooses to...this doesn't set a very good precedent - and very misguided
The Second Amendment? Standing on your RIGHTS to be armed?? Fine. But are you all thinking about what should be/must be done to stop those gun crimes as civiliansâ DUTIES? I mean why are there so many gun crimes in the States? US has the most gun crimes among all the advanced countries. Why in the heck is that? First of all, why do civilians need guns? Because there are so many crimes? Then how come there are so many crimes? True that gun control wonât stop gun crimes, but at least gun control would reduce gun crimes, I guess. I believe people are safer when there are fewer guns. Oh by the way, lots of gun freaks say âWhy donât we ban cars since there are so many drunk drivers??â If you think this is logical or make sense, you gotta start over from kindergarten. Seriously.
This sheriff is a true American who is loyal to the constitution and his people over political power moves. Stand strong Oregon!
He is upholding the federal law the only federal law the constitution.
When people go to eastern Oregon to prarie dog hunt, they sometimes shoot hundreds. 6or 7 30 mags
This sheriff is absolutley right on... We need many more like him
Thanks Sheriff Muehler!
Thank you is what I say
I think they should be legal to own they're a great way to blow some ammo at a coyote or sand bank and if someone breaks into my house why would I want the government telling me how many bullets I can have to make sure he can't kill me or my family
I don't think that you need an assault rifle with 5 extra 30 mags to kill an animal or an intruder --- \
I can honestly say that I'm proud to live in Crook county Oregon and have a sheriff that's not going to up hold an illegal law, there's more important issues for law enforcement
100% In support!
Chelsey, again you are wrong. Colorado passed a law legalizing marijuana, local Colorado county law enforcement is not required to enforce federal anti-marijuana law. By the same token, local law enforcement is not required to enforce federal gun law.
And this whole extreme "trampling the constitution" talk is just silly. I agree with what Jennifer Snyder said up above. Read the amendment, and then read the regulations they are looking at passing. There is nothing unconstitutional there. Look, if my responsible neighbor wants to go out and shoot off an assault rifle in a responsible safe way I could give a rip. God knows we Oregonians love our weapons. But assault rifles areNOT a neccesity, just as they are NOT the only gun available. To accuse the elected officials of trampling our rights because they are exercising caution after the horrific incident that took the lives of so many little ones, is not only ignorant, but also insulting to those your pandering that garbage to. Better to take a stand that you DON'T agree with the restrictions and why than jump to sensless accusations about the officials we elected to make these kinds of decisions
I am with this Sheriff 100%
They already pick and choose, just look at the current stance on immigration
Still though, if the law was passed, it needs to be upheld by the local law enforcement whether they like it or not, because you just can't pick and choose. Without law there is total chaos, and more violence.
Laws that violate the constitution are not laws, even federal laws
Officers take an oath to uphold the LAW. That means all laws, not just the laws of the constitution (which by the way doesn't cover such laws as drug trafficking etc). They cannot pick and choose which laws to enforce. Also,the new laws are not unconstitutional. Inconvenient maybe, but that's about it. The government isn't taking all the guns away, just restricting weapons that they believe contribute to gun violence. Do I agree with this? Not particularly, but you aren't going to see cops going door to door asking if you have an assault rifle so stop being a whiney ass about it. The Gov. is just doing what they do best. There is no right answer at this point, but they have to do something, so they're doing the wrong thing in hopes of getting the right result, because there's nothing else they CAN do. We need people control, not gun control. A way to locate, monitor, and treat the mentally ill before they go on killing sprees, but this is something that goes way beyond the bandaid the politics are looking for right now, so they're going to focus on gun restrictions instead, because that's the only thing they can do.
I will uphold the Constitution first and support those that do.
Not when the "federal law" is an executive order against the Bill of Rights imposed by a tyrant
Many laws are unenforced by the police, and thereby become obsolete, hopefully all police will ignore any unconstitutional laws Obama chooses to enact rendering them pointless, this sheriff sounds like a patriot to me!
I believe it was KPIC that asked voter's during the election how we viewed the beliefs of the President and Romney on gun laws. There were more than a few that said gun laws should be the least of our concern. I find it strange that it's now the first thing trying to be taken away?
I think its the right thing to do!
That is right John. It was to uphold the constitution. I think he is right.
John, The language in the second amendment is loose at best. Pro-gun right people should be saying " we feel guns are adequately regulated already", and stop saying it is against our rights to regulate. It clearly is not against our rights to regulate!!!
Wrong Michelle, the sheriff took an oath to uphold the constitution. The letter to the VP is an assertion that the constitution will be upheld. Is he to sit idly by and watch as the constitution that he swore to uphold is trampled upon - just because the Feds have the Governor on their side?
I agree 100% Mike!
He is doing the right thing, I support him.
I think the Sheriff is speaking for the majority of the citizens in Oregon. All I can say is it is nice to find someone that is not afraid to speak about his beliefs.
John , then the state would need to over rule it it not the individual.
GOP of Texas says he will make movement for impeachment if it is a mandate. so bring on the mandates, I'd like to see this idiot out of office