JENNINGS COUNTY — A resolution declaring Jennings County as a “sanctuary county” in support of the Second Amendment to the Constitution regarding the rights of citizens to bear arms was signed by government officials at the county sheriff’s department Friday night.
“What this means is that we will enforce the gun laws that are currently in effect (in Indiana and the United States) but we will not enforce new laws,” said Jennings County Sheriff Kenny Freeman, who led the efforts to create the resolution.
The resolution was also signed by state Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour and North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs during the ceremony held in the sheriff department lobby at 5 p.m. Friday.
Vernon Mayor Dan Wright and Vernon Town Marshal Britt Burgemier were also instrumental in creating the resolution, according to Freeman, but did not attend the signing ceremony.
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Lucas said in a telephone interview before the ceremony he “100% fully supports” Freeman and other Jennings County and North Vernon officials making the declaration of a “sanctuary county.”
“Hell, yeah,” Lucas said about the announcement Friday. “One (county) down, 91 to go.”
Freeman joins several sheriffs in other states, including Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Virginia and Washington, who have declared their counties to be “Second Amendment sanctuaries” and say they will not enforce certain federal or state gun laws, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
More than 100 counties, cities and towns in Virginia have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries and vowed to oppose any new “unconstitutional restrictions” on guns, the The Associated Press reports.
Lucas, an ardent supporter of gun rights, said he would define a “Second Amendment Sanctuary County” as a county “where the Second Amendment is simply respected, just the same as our other rights are.”
“I could not be any more proud that my sheriff over in Jennings County and his staff for taking a stand defending our constitutional rights against what is becoming an increasingly oppressive government,” Lucas said.
In addition to concerns about Virginia, Lucas and Freeman also mentioned Senate Bill 203 being introduced at the Indiana Statehouse, legislation that proposed to raise the legal age to purchase a rifle in Indiana from 18 to 21. Senate Bill 203 was filed on Jan. 6 by Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, and was co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Stoops, D-Bloomington. In addition to the rifle proposal, the proposed bill would also prohibit a person from possessing, selling, or offering for sale a magazine or similar device for a firearm with a capacity of more than 10 rounds of ammunition, making that a felony. The bill also proposed making it a misdemeanor to openly carry a prohibited weapon in a public place.
Lucas allowed during the interview that Indiana “actually has decent gun laws,” but said he would like to get rid of “gun-free zones” prohibiting firearms on public university campuses, schools and other public facilities.
“Gun-free zones are nothing but places where innocent people who obey gun laws are made easy victims for people who don’t obey gun laws,” Lucas said.
