By Ron Bain
Watchdog Editor
MONTROSE – Montrose County Sheriff Rick Dunlap, already on record in support of the Second Amendment and the U.S. Constitution, made his strongest statement on the subject of gun control Thursday evening while speaking to the Tri-County 9-12 Project.
“I can assure everybody in this room I will never knock on your door and ask for your weapons,” the sheriff said to applause from a standing room crowd at Friendship Hall. “I will never, ever instruct one of my officers to do the same.”
Dunlap said he stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee on the subject of gun control. McKee would have attended the Tea Party group’s meeting but he was fulfilling his duties as president of the County Sheriffs of Colorado in Denver that day, Dunlap said.
“We’re going to fight the fight, shoulder to shoulder,” Dunlap said of McKee.
Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn has also joined him in supporting the individual right to bear firearms, Dunlap said.
The Montrose County sheriff said he did not consider it his responsibility to enforce President Barack Obama’s 23 gun control edicts.
“I do not enforce federal law, nor do I want to,” he said.
Dunlap seemed to retract a previous statement that he would resign if asked to confiscate guns.
“Every lawman in Colorado has a tough choice to make – enforce it or get out of the profession,” he said. “I will stand up for your rights.” Those attending the meeting rose to their feet to show that they would stand with the sheriff in a crisis.
“We don’t want you to leave,” said David Justice, of Gunnison, to applause.
The state legislature was advised in a recent CSOC position paper to observe a “cooling off period” before taking action on gun control, but legislators are expected to begin debate on gun control legislation this week, Dunlap said.
Colorado does not need new gun laws, the sheriff said.
“We already have gun laws in this country,” Dunlap said. “Start enforcing them.”
In Colorado, it’s a 10-year mandatory prison sentence with no possibility of parole “if you use a firearm in the commission of a crime,” he added.
Dunlap complained that the federal HIPPA law prevents law enforcement from finding out about mentally ill people with the potential for violence until after they break the law.
The sheriff responded to several questions and listened to statements on subjects ranging from Agenda 21 to ObamaCare.
By Alpine Paradise February 10, 2013 - 9:02 pm
You forgot to include the mention of a possible Civil War and what the sheriff’s stand might be. This is a real heated subject amongst many, a very heavy straw on a already weighed down Camel you might say;-)
By Robert I. Laitres February 10, 2013 - 11:51 pm
Was the Sheriff speaking as a private citizen or as a Sheriff. In either case, he has no right to walk up to anyone’s house and “demand” anything. As a Sheriff, he can’t do that either, without a warrant issued for probable cause.
As to protecting my rights, that is something I have to do and is not a function of the Sheriff’s Department or any other law enforcement agency, whose only functions are restricted to physical protection and assisting those in need. Those are the limits of their office, and nothing else. They should therefore limit themselves accordingly.
If I am in need of protecting my “rights”, and need assistance, that is what attorneys (such as they are) are for.
So, whether it is the Sheriff or Montrose, that of Delta, or that of Mesa County, when speaking as Sheriffs they should restrict themselves to their functions and not delude themselves that because the enforce the law, that they are expert in all phases of it, and definitely not “experts” on the Constitution or the Constitutional rights of citizens.
I realize that today we have many who pretend to be Constitutional “experts” and launch about teaching it to others. What is unfortunate about such individuals is that they have not the slightest inkling as to what a Constitution is, what are its purposes, and absolutely no idea how they came about or why. As a consequence they meet the full criteria for my favorite definition for such individuals. “An expert is an individual who knows more and more about less and less until he/she knows absolutely everything about nothing”.
By Barbara Hulet February 11, 2013 - 5:45 am
I was in attendance when Sheriff Dunlap spoke. He was very clear that he would NOT walk up to anyone’s door and demand anything.
By lora February 11, 2013 - 11:16 am
Excellent response. Couldn’t have said it better.
By lora February 11, 2013 - 11:18 am
I’m responding to Robert in the above comment.
By Nelson Scott February 11, 2013 - 2:04 am
Lets all respect each others abilities to teach and to learn. First-off the County Sheriff is the highest Law Enforcement Offical in the County an has the absolute auhtority to keep out any and all Federal agencies or agents. The reason is, that the State Constitution trumpts the National Constitution by power of the 10th amendment, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Please remenber (1) The National/Federal Constitution was ratified in 1787 as a “Job Description” for the elected Federal Offical. The Bill of Rights came-in 4 years later in 1789 and can be described as the peoples job description. The Bill Of Rights did get ratified into the Constitution thru circa. There are two parts to the Constitutions both National and State, part one is the Job Description for the elected officals, and part two is the job description for the people the “Bill Of Rights.”
Nelson Scott