2nd Sheriff Refuses to Enforce Any New Gun Laws

Kentucky's Tim Mueller sends letter to Joe Biden
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2013 9:40 AM CST
2nd Sheriff Refuses to Enforce Any New Gun Laws
Rifles line a wall above in front of people standing in a gun shop.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

President Obama will reveal his gun control plans this morning, and one Kentucky sheriff will no doubt be listening closely. Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller has become the country's second man in such a position to declare that he does not plan to enforce any laws he sees as unconstitutional. A Kentucky sheriff made the same announcement yesterday, though Mueller may have one-upped him: He sent a letter saying as much to Joe Biden.

Mueller tells the AP he doesn't actually think Biden will get his letter, but "it needed to be said, so I said it." Most households in his county have guns, he says, and residents had been asking his deputies what new gun laws would mean for them. Mueller's answer? Nothing. "We're restricted and prohibited from enforcing all types of federal laws, including immigration laws. It would be unreasonable for anyone to think that I would enforce a federal firearms law." (In related news, the NRA is slamming Obama as an "elitist hypocrite" in a new ad.)

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