The Fannin County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution declaring Fannin County a Second Amendment Sanctuary after receiving input from the community during their regular meeting Tuesday, February 25.
The resolution, which passed unanimously, states, among other things, “Whereas, any act, law, rule, regulation, scheme or plan that seeks to infringe or otherwise prevent or outlaw ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms’ in violation of the Second Amendment to The United States Constitution, to the Constitution of the State of Georgia, and the holdings of the United States Supreme Court are not to be permitted.”
Chairman Stan Helton explained that the board could make it very difficult for the federal or state government to enforce laws that infringe on the Second Amendment.
“There’s a way to resist this,” he said. “If we don’t fund certain actions, that makes it pretty difficult for someone to come in and do any confiscation or put an order in for the Sheriff’s department to do that. We can make it very difficult for that to happen.”
Post Two Commissioner Glenn Patterson also felt the resolution was timely.
“I remember someone running for president, this year, that said ‘I will take your guns, I will take those guns,’ and that woke me up,” Patterson said. “It’s time to speak now. It’s time to speak right now and show the state officials and the federal officials what we believe in, because we’ve got a voice right now, but someday, if you don’t talk, the silent majority, you may not have a voice. So speak up now.”
Post One Commissioner Earl Johnson explained that allowing the government to disarm the county would make everyone completely dependent on law enforcement and the government to keep citizens safe.
“If you don’t stand for the Second Amendment, you’re dependent on someone, and I would urge you not to be dependent on anyone in government,” he said.
Multiple community members spoke in favor of and against passing a resolution.
Fannin County resident Kathy Smyth spoke against the resolution stating that it encourages lawlessness.
“I believe that asking Fannin County to become a Second Amendment Sanctuary county sets a dangerous precedent, as it would represent a blatant disregard for laws that may be passed by our elected leaders,” she said. “Our democracy only works when people have faith in it and those who have been elected to govern them. Laws that have been passed and enacted should be followed. That is what the rule of law means. We have the right to protest, we have the right to demonstrate. Pro-gun advocates have this same right. Local governments also have the right to dissent and lobby for change, and that is how democracy is supposed to work.”
Fannin resident Jim Randazzo, a retired homicide and sex crime investigator who served the City of Miami for 15 years, urged the commission to not believe those who say the country needs to “get rid of guns.”
“I have seen evil in man,” he said. “We have laws against homicide right now. We have laws against sex crimes right now. We have laws against drugs right now. Yet, it still occurs. So what startling revelation are we going to have when we pass a law against guns, that they’re just going to go away, that the bad guys are just gonna stop? They don’t. They simply don’t.”
McCaysville Police Chief Mike Earley told the board that neither he or Assistant Chief Bill Cole, “Under no circumstances, inside the City of McCaysville, will enforce any laws that infringe upon the rights to possess and to bear arms.”
Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby also explained his intentions regarding the Second Amendment.
“I totally support the protection of each and every individual’s Second Amendment rights, and I can promise everybody that our office will always do everything that we can, within the law, to support the Second Amendment rights of the people,” Kirby said. “Now, that don’t mean necessarily taking laws that are handed down by our federal government or by our state government, and just, ya know, in a cowboyish way, standing up and saying ‘I refuse to enforce that law.’
“There are things that elected officials and citizens and everybody else can do other than just refuse to enforce laws that you think might be unconstitutional. I can promise you, as your Sheriff, that I will always take every action and every step that I can to make sure that no unconstitutional laws, whether they be Second Amendment related or not, are handed down and enforced here in Fannin County, but its got to be done the right way.”