Every sheriff in the state of Utah signed a letter saying they would try to safeguard the Second Amendment in the midst of proposed legislation and recent executive orders authorized by President Joe Biden.
“Importantly, the Second Amendment of our divinely inspired Constitution clearly states ... ‘the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed,’”
said the statement (pdf), signed by all 29 sheriffs in the state, and was released via Cache County Sheriff Chad Jensen’s office. “We hereby recognize a significant principle underlying the Second Amendment: the right to keep and bear arms is indispensable to the existence of a free people.”
Their letter and promise were “prompted by increasing public concern” over constitutional rights, namely the Second Amendment.
“As your elected Sheriffs, we individually and collectively pledge to do everything within our power to steadfastly protect the Second Amendment and all other individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” the letter states. “We understand the destructive influences currently existing in our country will only relent when women and men everywhere genuinely care for each other. We must rely on Providence and care deeply about preserving the Constitution and its freedoms in order to be a strong and prosperous people.”
While the letter did not make mention of any specific elected officials, bills, or orders at the federal or state level, Democrats in Congress have recently introduced or passed several bills that would
enhance background checks,
ban magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, and would
ban so-called “assault weapons.”
Separately, a rule introduced this month by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) at the request of the Biden administration would reclassify firearms that have stabilizing pistol braces as illegal.
“When individuals use accessories to convert pistols into short-barreled rifles, they must comply with the heightened regulations on those dangerous and easily concealable weapons,” the Department of Justice said
earlier this month about the rules. The DOJ also argued that the braces allow people to easily “convert pistols into these more dangerous weapons” without going through a background check or meeting other requirements.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki
suggested in April that Biden has an appetite to issue orders relating to gun-control, which came after he announced executive actions to regulate so-called “ghost guns” and introduced proposals for “red flag” laws.
“The president is not going to wait for Congress to act to take additional executive actions—this is the beginning,” she said at the time.
Republicans have expressed near-unanimous opposition to the Democrat-backed legislation on guns, as well as Biden’s recent orders. At the state level, several governors have recently signed bills that would
classify their states as “Second Amendment Sanctuary States.”
