Huron County becomes Second Amendment sanctuary

NORWALK — Huron County is now one of a growing list of Second Amendment Sanctuary counties in Ohio. Three weeks after a group of about 400 residents gathered at the Bronson-Norwalk Conservation Club to discuss becoming a Second Amendment sanctuary, county commissioners approved a resolution doing just that Tuesday. It didn't get done without opposition, though. Three opponents of the proposed resolution spoke out against its approval during the public comments portion of the meeting. Dwight Cherry spoke first and questioned the timing of the resolution and asked the commissioners to table the discussion until the public could better understand what it meant. "I would encourage the commissioners to delay a bit on the passage of this (sanctuary resolution)," Cherry said. "I believe that the commissioners should very strongly state beyond what is here now, if law enforcement, or any action that would come out of job and family services necessitates the removal of guns from someone, and it is done within the existing law, done with complete due process, that seizure is not only a matter of safety but in my belief if violence is avoided it actually avoids further pressure to restrict second amendmdent rights. My belief is that there should be a stronger statement here that supports law enforcement in the correct implementation of law as it relates to guns." Boose said commissioners gave it three weeks after the initial meeting and they took their time to move on it. "This has been in the paper non-stop since the meeting," he said. "This information has probably been out more than any other topic that we have done, there's always the question how much is the right time. It all has been weighed by this board and one of the reasons I think now is the right time is because of the misinformation out there and we need to clear that up." "We have no authority to make the laws or enforce them," Boose said. "The only thing we can do is what we have done in this resolution. We have made it clear, we don't approve anyone breaking the law. All we are doing is telling the state and federal government that if you plan to make changes or do anything against the Second Amendment is that we strongly support the Second Amendment and would request that they think about it." Karen Prelipp spoke about her letter to the editor last week in the Norwalk Reflector and Sandusky Register and touched on commissioner Terry Boose stating he didn't understand why people would be hesitant to speak out against the resolution. "My questions are with the number of people who were contacted and what their positions were, because I have not seen anything other than from people who were in support of the resolution. My question is did you speak to anyone opposed?" Prelipp said. "A functioning democracy gives a voice to the minority. Were evening meetings scheduled so those who work daytime jobs had an opportunity to make their positions known? Only two-out-of-eight of agencies responded (to a survey of law enforcement and local administrative agencies), do you believe that less than three weeks is adequate time for elected officials to poll their constituents to get their consensus on this position?" "You remarked, Mr. Boose that you don't know why people are afraid to state their opposition to the resolution," she said. "I would like to quote from Mr. (Jeremy) Norris' Facebook page, from Mr. Norris himself: 'Nobody wants to hear your whining about our constitutional rights Karen;' from Alicia Day: 'Karen, STFU,' I think we all know what that means; and from Steven Berry:' f***** Karen." With those kind of remarks being made public, do you understand why people are hesitant?" Tim Adam expressed concerns about what message the resolution would send to outsiders who may be considering a move to the county. "There are a number of jurisdictions across the nation that have said they will bypass the courts and take the law in their own hands," Adam said. "To pass this resolution you are going to put Huron County in that pool with the rest of them, people are going to see it that way and I don't think it will be a good image for the county when we are trying to bring in businesses, tourism and families." "We don't make law, but I took an oath to uphold the Second Amendment," Skip Wilde said. "That's what we're doing here and the other key for me is to make sure there is due process." Jeremy Norris was one of the original organizers to get the resolution approved and the lone proponent to speak for resolution in the meeting. "The constitution was written to protect our rights as individuals and Americans," Norris said. "When you take and rip up that constitution and our rights on it, you're telling everybody that America doesn't matter. The second amendment was written to limit the government from limiting our rights. Shall not be infringed, means what it means, shall not be infringed it's not open to interpretation. "We want to be able to protect our rights because it is our God given right to be able to defend ourselves, our families and those around us and when you pass red-flag laws with no due process that doesn't give anyone rights. It takes away their rights without going through the court system. We need to focus on mental health and keep your hands off our guns." Here is a link to the resolution: 20-048.pdf