Wicomico County Sheriff: 'We will not comply' with long gun license bill as written

Rural Sheriff objects to proposed gun legislation

www.capitalgazette.com...

Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis has a message for Maryland lawmakers if they pass legislation regulating ownership of rifles and shotguns: His office will not comply.

“The way the bill is written, it is impossible to comply,” Lewis said Monday. “I can’t send (my deputies) on a suicide mission.”

The Maryland county sheriff made those comments shortly after testifying in opposition to House Bill 786. He made similar comments in the overflow room watching hearings on gun legislation in the morning. Lewis was in downtown Annapolis all day Monday testifying against several different gun bills.

If any of those bills required his deputies to take away guns for law-abiding citizens, Lewis said he wouldn’t do it.

Sending out officers to take guns away from law-abiding citizens will likely result in those citizens defending their rights and shooting the officers, Lewis said.

during the attached video Sheriff Mike Lewis stated 'We are sick and tired for being penalized for Baltimore City's inability to control crime'.

Maryland is dominated by urban and suburban areas and tends to vote very democrat, but many counties (like Wicomico) are rural and Republican. Gun violence and crime is a major issue in the blue areas.

House Bill 786 would regulate shotguns and hunting rifles similarly to handguns. It creates a long gun qualification license and forbids residents from buying or possessing those guns without the approved license. It also requires background checks on the private sales of long guns. Current law requires background checks on long guns when bought through licensed dealers.

so he's saying if the Maryland democrats outlaw and start confiscating 'long guns' he won't enforce said law(s) to spare his deputies potential lethal reaction.
I've spent some time in that area and I can tell you, NO ONE is going to take those boys' guns away.
and its stupid of the Maryland democrats to try.

The wild west! If places can refuse to work with feds in immigration cases, then refusing to work with feds in these cases will happen too.

Thanks for setting a precedence for it!

Gun grabbers need to be banned.

Sending out officers to take guns away from law-abiding citizens will likely result in those citizens defending their rights and shooting the officers, Lewis said.

I figured it was going to be difficult to get officers to be on the confiscation team if they have an ounce of sense.

Maybe those who make that law need to be the ones in the field collecting the firearms.

a reply to: ElGoobero

What a crazy bill. Canada doesn’t even register rifles/long guns.....and years ago, when there was a registry (which was scrapped), no one was ever told to just go and confiscate anything.
You either turned it all in, or you just didn’t get caught using the gun in a bad way.

What they did up here, for a certain amount of control, is the ammo can’t be bought without showing your licensing/certification. People still make their own ammo though.

It’s starting to sound like there’s a faction of the US government that wants more gun control, in the country with the second amendment, rights shall not be infringed upon, etc, than up here, where there’s no such automatic right 🤔

Wont they just send in the National guard if the sheriffs dept. refuses to do it?

My question is if they sent police to confiscate guns, which violates the constitution, and citizens defend themselves could they be convicted of anything at the end of the day?

What happens when citizens have to break laws to defend themselves from police who are breaking laws.

originally posted by: Quantumgamer1776
My question is if they sent police to confiscate guns, which violates the constitution, and citizens defend themselves could they be convicted of anything at the end of the day?

What happens when citizens have to break laws to defend themselves from police who are breaking laws.

It might be in my state, Indiana. Read this and tell me what you think.

Link

originally posted by: crayzeed
Wont they just send in the National guard if the sheriffs dept. refuses to do it?

Sure.

And then when the national guard refuses to do it, they send in the military.

Find me one military grunt who would comply with an order to confiscate rifles from law abiding citizens. Okay, find a few more... I'm sure there's a couple, but I'd wager my own bullets they'd be stopped by their own peers.

Unenforceable laws created by what should be unelectable idiots.

but............they told me they weren't coming for my guns. They didn't lie to us did they?