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Gun Control. Again. Give it Up Colorado. Less Popular than ObamaCare.
It's the NYTs but nonetheless it almost reads like a newspaper instead of bird cage or kitty litter box liner.GREELEY, Colo. -- When Sheriff John Cooke of Weld County explains in speeches why he is not enforcing the state's new gun laws, he holds up two 30-round magazines. One, he says, he had before July 1, when the law banning the possession, sale or transfer of the large-capacity magazines went into effect. The other, he "maybe" obtained afterward. He shuffles the magazines, which look identical, and then challenges the audience to tell the difference.
...he "maybe" obtained afterward? Selective memory is sometimes a good thing. "How is a deputy or an officer supposed to know which is which?" Good question. Colorado's package of gun laws, enacted this year after mass shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., has been hailed as a victory by advocates of gun control. But if Sheriff Cooke and a majority of the other county sheriffs in Colorado offer any indication, the new laws -- which mandate background checks for private gun transfers and outlaw magazines over 15 rounds -- may prove nearly irrelevant across much of the state's rural regions. The party of gun control has paid a political price in Colorado recently when some of their members got retired from government. The will most likely pay a price in 2014 also. Some sheriffs, like Sheriff Cooke, are refusing to enforce the laws, saying that they are too vague and violate Second Amendment rights. Many more say that enforcement will be "a very low priority," as several sheriffs put it. All but seven of the 62 elected sheriffs in Colorado signed on in May to a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the statutes. For some the Constitution is selectively followed--you know like the 10 Commandments; for others both are taken seriously. The resistance of sheriffs in Colorado is playing out in other states, raising questions about whether tougher rules passed since Newtown will have a muted effect in parts of the American heartland, where gun ownership is common and grass-roots opposition to tighter restrictions is high. Countering the elected sheriffs are some police chiefs, especially in urban areas, and state officials who say that the laws are not only enforceable but that they are already having an effect. Who best represents the people in Colorado--The sheriffs or the police chiefs? Posted by: JohnQC 2013-12-16 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=381791 |