"SANCTUARY CITIES" FOR GUNS?

Just as some Left-wing cities and counties have decided not to enforce immigration laws and have thus become sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants, so it now looks like a growing number of Right-wing counties have decided to resist or at least ignore State and Federal gun-control laws, and become effectively "sanctuary cities" for guns -- although most of them are pretty rural.

A test case right now is Ballot Measure Initiative I-1639, a Washington State law that requires buyers of semi-automatic rifles must be over 21, undergo an "enhanced background check," have completed a "safety course," wait nine days to take possession of their weapons, and store them safely. 

The law was passed by Washington State voters in November  (59% to 41%) due to largely disinterested urban voters in Seattle and its suburbs voting for it, while being overwhelmingly rejected in the smaller rural counties in the state’s east and south, where it is deeply detested.

As reported by the Guardian:

At least 20 county sheriffs in Washington state – more than half of the state’s total – are now publicly refusing to police new gun laws. Several county governments have also passed local resolutions officially opposing enforcement of the laws.

The moves may pose a significant threat to Washington’s ambitious agenda on firearms reform, and some activists say it is beginning to resemble a full-scale “constitutionalist” revolt against gun control.

A growing number of sheriffs, almost all in rural counties, have publicly stated that they will not, or believe they cannot, enforce the provisions of I-1639, a ballot measure passed by popular vote [in Washington State] last November which aims to restrict access to and use of assault weapons.

While some sheriffs are refusing to enforce the law and some are saying the law is too vague to enforce, others are saying they will actually prevent other agencies from enforcing it in their counties. Meanwhile there is an ongoing legal challenge from the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation claiming that the laws are unconstitutional.

Although these actions by county sheriffs represent a rejection of authoritarianism and an embrace of grass-roots democracy, the media is trying to label the movement as extremist, supremacist, Neo-Nazi, and far right.

The Guardian again:

So-called “County Supremacy” and related ideas originated in far-right and white supremacist movements like the Posse Comitatus, who asserted that county sheriffs were the highest constitutional authority.

The researcher Spencer Sunshine wrote in a report for Political Research Associates that ideas of county supremacy in the Pacific north-west had been “mainstreamed into local and state governments, aided by a lurch to the right inside the Republican Party”.

Groups like the Washington State Firearms Coalition have been promoting the idea of “nullification” – that lower levels of government can void unconstitutional laws passed at higher levels – even though such doctrines have been repeatedly rejected by the supreme court.

What we are seeing here is the continuing polarisation of America that some experts believe could lead to a second Civil War. In that case, one wonders who would win -- the half of the country with guns or the half or the country without.