By: David Tripp
1 Jul 2019
Verification Citation/Source: Rutherford County Board of Commissioners
Resolution date passed: 1 Jul 2019
Vote Count: 4-0-1
Resolution declaring Rutherford County a Second Amendment sanctuary
WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States is the Supreme Law of our nation; and
WHEREAS, the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America states: “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”; and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Constitution, Article I, Section 30, states: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; and, as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they shall not be maintained, and the military shall be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. Nothing herein shall justify the practice of carrying concealed weapons, or prevent the General Assembly from enacting penal statutes against that practice; and
WHEREAS, the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners is concerned about the passage of any bill or legislation which could be interpreted as infringing the rights of the citizens of Rutherford County to keep and bear arms or which may unduly restrict their right to the same; and
WHEREAS, the criminal misuse of firearms is not a reason to infringe the rights of law abiding citizens of Rutherford County; and
WHEREAS, the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners wishes to express its deep commitment to the rights of all citizens of Rutherford County to keep and bear arms; and
WHEREAS, the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners wishes to express opposition to any law that would unconstitutionally restrict the rights under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and under the North Carolina constitution of the citizens of Rutherford County to keep and bear arms; and
WHEREAS, the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners wishes to express its intent to stand as a Sanctuary County for Second Amendment rights and to oppose, within the limits of the Constitutions of the United States and the State of North Carolina, any efforts to unconstitutionally restrict such rights, and to use such legal means at its disposal to protect the rights of the citizens to keep and bear arms.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved by the Board of Commissioners of Rutherford County:
That the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners hereby expresses its intent to uphold the Second Amendment rights of the citizens of Rutherford County and that public funds, resources, employees, buildings or offices not be used to restrict Second Amendment rights or to aid or assist in the enforcement of the unnecessary and unconstitutional restriction of the rights under the Second Amendment of the citizens of Rutherford County to keep and bear arms; and
That the Board of Commissioners hereby declares Rutherford County, North Carolina, as a ‘Second Amendment Sanctuary.”
Adopted this the 1st day of July, 2019.
