Franklin County, WA Sheriff response.

[Firefighterchen]

Finally received an email back from the Franklin County Sheriff. Apparently the contact form on their website sends these emails to his junk mail?

I asked him if he would support or defend unconstitutional federal law. This is his response, what do you guys think?

I discovered a couple emails in regards to the 2nd amendment in my junk mail today.* I will make one response answering the combined concerns of all.* Yes, I have taken an oath;* in fact I have taken the oath of office for Sheriff 8 times.* I took it to complete the term of former Sheriff Wally Bradley when my election was certified in November of 1986, I took it again in December of 1986 to start my first full term in office, I have taken it at the start of each of my additional 6 terms of office. The oath of office in Washington is the same for all elected officials, whether it is auditor, treasurer, coroner, prosecutor, judge or sheriff.* I have attached a copy of my most recent oath, they are filed with the county auditor.* Local and state law enforcement officers do not enforce federal law, we do not interpret the law, as spelled out in the Constitution that is the authority and responsibility of the Judicial Branch.* I have not made any public statements as I feel that my record of 26+ years as Sheriff speaks louder than any words.* I have always upheld my oath, made tough decisions based on what was the right thing to do, not always the most popular.* Under my leadership the crime in Franklin county has decreased 60%, we went from being one of the worst areas in the* state to being one of the safest and now the fastest growing county in the state.* I have been r-elected 6 times, which is a pretty good indication that the citizens of this county feel satisfied with the job I am doing.* I have attached a copy of the resolution put out this month by the National Sheriff’s Association which would be my position as well as an executive summary which I believe adequately reflects my position.* I was Sheriff when the previous Assault weapon ban was in place as well as the ban on high capacity magazines.* The ban at that time grandfathered in all magazines and weapons currently in possession and manufactured prior to the effective date of the law.* The law prevented the sale of magazines and weapons manufactured after the effective date of the law. There wasn’t anything for us to enforce.* The question of enforcing unconstitutional laws, I have never enforced an un constitutional law, as previously mentioned it is not within my powers under the state or federal constitution to interpret the law.* I am not going to answer hypothetical questions about possible scenarios with the federal government. I don’t enforce federal law so I have no need to respond to federal laws.* No, I am not going to write President Obama a letter.* It is important that our legislators in both Washington DC and Olympia hear your concerns as they will be the ones who ultimately will put laws into effect.

*

Sheriff Richard Lathim

 

[badge851]

Just a long, slow, TAP DANCE; IMHO

 

[Firefighterchen]

Ok, so that's what I felt too and I was making sure I wasn't reading it wrong.

What I can take from it is:

Olympia can make whatever laws they want, even if they are against the Constitution of the US and the Constitution of the state of WA, and he will enforce those, but it's not his job to interpret them, nor is it worth his time to speak his voice for his county to defend said Constitutions.

Federal law can be unconstitutional, again he doesn't interpret them, nor will he enforce them, or defend them. If the Federal government makes an unconstitutional law, so be it, they can do whatever they please in this county. Again, it's not worth his time or effort to defend the Constitutions. At least there are SOME Sheriff's in this country that have the balls to speak up, sadly Lathim is not one of them.

He apparently signed the last assault weapons ban too...limiting my freedom on firearms...gee thanks bud.

 

[dcselby1]

What is the oath he took? I don't think county officials enforce federal laws, which is what he says. Sounds like he enforces state and county law, which is his job. It also looks to me like he is keeping HIS opinion on the current "battle" to himself.

 

[4handgun]

What he is saying is, he will NOT enforce federal laws. He did say he will obey the Constitution and will not enforce any federal laws that is in violation to the Constitution. But he is right, you/we should be contacting our elected officials to remind them they work for us and we do not agree with any new gun laws and any sort of gun ban. There are several ways to voice your opinion. NRA's website has made it easy to contact our elected officials. The Washington legislatures website also, every bill introduced has a comment button with 3 options, oppose, approve, neutral and a comment box to voice your concerns. So please use these websites voice your opinion. Remember they, elected officials, work for you. Some of them do listen.

 

[Scaredfuzz]

I think he is saying that enforcing Federal law isn't his job and so he doesn't need to address it. He also pointed out that the last time there was an AWB there was nothing for him to enforce since gun makers had to stop making the banned items and that would be an ATF issue if they didn't, and all the current weapons in circulation were still legal (not the confiscation that is being talked about). As for the state issues, if you read the National Sheriff’s Association's statement, they basically said they'll defer to whatever the courts decide.

In my opinion he took a neutral wait and see stance, which doesn't give me any confidence.

 

[jcreek]

He's saying he cares more about keeping his job than putting his neck out on the line to support the constitution. Yes it's not his job to interpret law or enforce federal laws but that doesn't mean he doesn't do it. Robbing any bank insured by the FDIC is a federal crime and falls under federal jurisdiction. Do you think that only the FBI arrests bank robbers?