Howard County most likely will not become a “gun sanctuary county,” despite a local effort to do so.
Local supporters of the gun sanctuary first brought the issue at the Feb. 3 Howard County commissioners meeting, calling on the county to join the hundreds of other counties across the country and the handful in Indiana in passing an ordinance to resist and impede any gun control measures either passed by the state or federal governments.
Supporters once again brought up the issue at Monday’s meeting.
John Smith, of rural Kokomo, told commissioners he was worried of the growing sentiment and attempts to impose strict gun-control laws, such as the attempted ban of new sales of assault weapons in Virginia that failed Monday after some moderate Democrats balked at the proposal.
Smith implored the commissioners to be proactive and set an example so that more counties in the state may follow.
“This is about the safety of the citizens of this county, of this state and of this country,” Smith said. “President Reagan said America was the last bastion of freedom. If our freedoms fall here, where are we going to go? We have no place to go.”
According to www.sanctuarycounties.com, seven Indiana counties, including Cass have passed sanctuary county laws.
But Howard County will not be joining that list. Not at least anytime soon.
Commissioner Paul Wyman told local supporters of the gun sanctuary ordinance the county was legally prohibited from doing so due to the state’s preemption statute – passed in 2011 – that prohibits localities from regulating firearms on their own.
“The hesitancy here isn’t that we’re not supportive of you guys,” Wyman said. “I am as much of a gun person as the next person is ... but to pass a law that has absolutely no bearing and/or I am prohibited from passing, I think opens up Howard County to other [legal] challenges.”
The commissioners said it’s also highly unlikely the state Legislature would attempt to pass any gun control laws such as the one attempted in Virginia. To which one of the gun sanctuary supporters answered with, “One election, sir. That’s all it takes.”
“If that election goes the wrong way, and we have an ordinance here in our county, it means nothing,” Wyman responded. “I don’t want to give anyone here in Howard County false hope that because we passed a proposal you put before us that somehow we’re having an impact on governance, because we’re not.”
Commissioner Jack Dodd encouraged gun rights supporters to put their focus on getting out the vote for their cause during state and federal elections.
“When you cast your vote in November, that’s the vote that counts,” he said.
As a kind of compromise, the commissioners said they would be open to signing a letter supporting the Second Amendment and sending it to local representatives at the Statehouse.
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