STATESVILLE — Following in the footsteps of other counties, the Iredell County Board of Commissioners will be taking up a Second Amendment resolution at their next meeting in February.
There has been some considerable interest and support for the county commission to go on record in support of our Constitutional Rights, in particular, our Second Amendment Rights,” Iredell County Commission Chairman James B. Mallory, III said at the board’s Jan. 21 meeting.
Mallory explained that Commissioner Houpe had shared a Second Amendment resolution created by Surry County at their last meeting and that they had been watching the types of bills proposed in Virginia that restricted Second Amendment rights.
“They haven’t been passed yet but they are of concern to warrant going on record and being able to send to our own legislators the message that we do not want to go down the path that the Virginians are on,” said Mallory.
Mallory said that the board consulted the county attorney on the matter to make sure it was “constitutionally correct and appropriate” for the board to pass a resolution.
Chairman Mallory said that in the process of their review of the resolution, they had also coordinated with the Sheriff to reach language and conditions that could be “mutually acceptable” and move forward in a “unified fashion.”
The chairman went on to say he was taking the “prerogative” to alter the public comment portion of the meeting to bring Sheriff Campbell to the forefront to share his position and insight.
Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell opened his remarks by saying he had watched what was going in Virginia with “great concern and trepidation.”
Campbell said he firmly believes that the majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens and that any attempt to restrict their ability to legally purchase and own a firearm should be “perceived as a direct threat and attack” to a citizen’s constitutional rights.
“I wholeheartedly believe that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun,” said Campbell, who then referred to the situation where last December, an armed parishioner shot and killed a drifter who had opened fire in the church, killing two people.
That parishioner was Jack Wilson, a former FBI agent who is also a shooting instructor member of the security team at West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas.
“As your elected sheriff, I cannot stress the importance of together, taking a stance on a position that firmly states to our fellow citizens of our county of our resolve to protect our Constitutional rights, most specifically, our Second Amendment Right to bear arms,” Campbell said.
In his remarks, Campbell said that a resolution such as this one would affirm national and state constitutional rights but would not be any kind of policy change or incur any cost for the county.
“I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States to protect and serve the citizens of this great county,” Campbell said. “Gentlemen, I will be perfectly clear with the utmost respect for each and every one of you…I will be straightforward and perfectly clear: I will not participate in any unconstitutional seizure of any firearm from any citizen of our county.”
According to Chairman Mallory, the proposed resolution will be finalized and made public prior to the next public hearing on Feb. 4 that will “exclusively focused” on the proposed Second Amendment resolution.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5mhrvmVAqk[/embedyt]
