As state, federal, and global governments accelerate their drive to eradicate private gun ownership in the United States, some local lawmakers are bravely standing up for the Second Amendment.
In Madison County, Tennessee (Jackson is the county seat), the county commission will consider such a proposal when it meets on Tuesday, February 19.
The measure is called the Madison County Second Amendment Preservation Resolution and it holds all attempts by the federal government to abridge the right to keep and bear arms in Madison County as “null and void and of no effect.”
Citing the intent of the Founders and the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, the resolution directs the county sheriff “to prevent the enforcement of any federal acts, laws, orders, rules, or regulations in violation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”
Sheriffs nationwide are being called on to halt the federal gun grab at their counties’ borders.
In a statement made to the Jackson Sun, Madison County Sheriff David Woolfork (shown above) said that he and his fellow sheriffs across the Volunteer State would continue to uphold their duty to protect the Second Amendment.
“I certainly support the Second Amendment and defend the Constitution of Tennessee,” Woolfork said. “I will uphold the oath I have taken five times.”
Woolfork noted that the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association stands behind his firm resolve to defend the right to keep and bear arms. The organization’s website declares: “The Sheriffs of Tennessee are strong supporters of the 2nd Amendment rights of their citizens and have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, the Constitution of the United States of America, and the laws and ordinances of their counties and will fulfill that oath.”
Commissioner Jerry Bastin co-authored the resolution, and he told the Jackson Sun that he felt compelled to act as the issue of gun control is gaining momentum. He reported that many of his fellow commissioners share his concern about the coming gun grab.
“The Second Amendment of the Constitution upholds the right to bear arms in this country, and this resolution demonstrates that [the] Madison County Board of Commissioners supports the United States Constitution,” Bastin said.
The Madison County resolution specifically requires county commissioners to “reject and nullify the enforcement of any federal acts, laws, executive orders, rules or regulations in violation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.”
In refusing to ratify present and proposed federal gun seizures, Bastin and the rest of the Madison County Commission stand on firm constitutional grounds.
Nullification is a concept of constitutional law recognizing the right of each state to nullify, or invalidate, any federal measure that exceeds the few and defined powers allowed the federal government as enumerated in the Constitution. Nullification exists as a right of the states because the sovereign states formed the union, and as creators of the compact, they hold ultimate authority as to the limits of the power of the central government to enact laws that are applicable to the states and the citizens thereof.
The state legislature of Tennessee is also considering a gun control nullifying measure.
“It’s our attempt to push back on the federal government’s ever increasing encroachment, not only on our personal liberties but on our state sovereignty, and this is what we’re going to do,” said Tennessee state Representative Joe Carr, the sponsor of a bill offered in the State House that would criminalize any state agent’s participation with federal gun-control edicts.
“We’ve had enough and enough is enough. We’re tired of cheap political antics, cheap props using children as bait to gin up emotional attachment for an issue that, quite honesty, doesn’t solve the problem,” Carr added.
The Madison County Second Amendment Preservation Resolution in one of three agenda items scheduled to be considered by the County Commission when it meets again at 8:00 a.m. (CST), Tuesday, February 19.
Photo of Madison County Sheriff David Woolfork
Joe A. Wolverton, II, J.D. is a correspondent for The New American and travels frequently nationwide speaking on topics of nullification, the NDAA, and the surveillance state. He can be reached at [email protected].
