By Steve Mansfield
Lewis County sheriff
CHEHALIS – To the citizens of Lewis County:
As a result of the recent tragic shootings and escalating violence across our nation, we again find ourselves deliberating on the highly volatile topics of gun control and Second Amendment rights which are further fueled by political agendas and high emotions.
Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield
As your sheriff, I have sworn to support the Constitution of the United States and to support the constitution and enforce the laws of the state of Washington. This is my mandate and I will not lose sight of that. I made my position clear on this topic when you, the people of Lewis County, elected me as your sheriff. I have not wavered from such position or the responsibility you bestowed upon me to carry out these duties. Regardless of the path the federal government chooses to pursue, I am first and foremost responsible and accountable to you.
Doing nothing to address the problem of violence and fear is not an option.
Rather, it will only ensure that the violence will continue. Likewise, doing nothing will only empower those who have no interest in protecting rights afforded by the Second Amendment. Unchallenged, they will continue to move forward to a point where it will be too late to undo the damage of ill-conceived and misapplied legislative actions.
I fully support the ability of law abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms. However, every right begets responsibility. That being said, I do feel it is not only important, but imperative that we all be involved in ending this senseless violence that cannot continue to go unchecked.
So yes, I do believe action needs to occur, but not in a knee-jerk fashion. Rather, our actions must be deliberate and any new legislation must be crafted with scrutiny to guard against infringement upon our constitutional rights.
We must be active participants in the process to find answers that address the causes of our social problems, not just the symptoms. We must focus on the areas that make sense and that can have an impact on the root problem. I consider the root problem to be not guns themselves, but guns in the hands of the wrong people.
It is to this end I am continuing to focus efforts to:
• Close background check loopholes that will help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
• Aggressively work with our prosecutor to vigorously prosecute those who commit crimes with guns and have been restricted from gun ownership due to their criminal past.
• Work with our schools, businesses and citizens in facilitating successful “all hazard” planning and preparation efforts for critical incidents.
• Educate the public on issues of deadly force and safely carrying a firearm.
• Work with our legislature to ensure the rights of law abiding citizens are not compromised by knee-jerk legislation and politics.
To restate: I will faithfully support the ability of law abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights. I ask you to stay informed and engaged with the issues.
Also, I ask you to be able and willing to make your position known to our state and federal legislators. You can be assured I will uphold my oath of office, continue to do my best in meeting our mission, and protect our constitutional rights.
Sincerely,
Steve Mansfield, Sheriff of Lewis County
•••
Others sharing their views in recent days include Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin who told a gathering on Friday, according to the Yakima-Herald Republic, he favored “improved background checks, including at gun shows, and better access to mental health care, but not reinstatement of a law that expired in 2004 that banned certain semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines”;
And former Thurston County Sheriff Dan Kimball who wrote a piece yesterday in The Olympian in which he says he does not support the claim the Second Amendment allows citizens to possess assault weapons or high-capacity magazines, and, he says, “Furthermore, no one should be able to purchase any firearm without submitting to a thorough background check, no matter where or how they purchase that weapon.”
As the men how wrote the u s constitution.. give the second Amendment a lot and i mean A LOT thought to this one because if not for the frams and town folk that helped win our independence without a strong civilian Amy
We may not have won. as James Madison wrote that the people should be well armed to be able to defined them self from both the government and the law ..he also said it is good to have uprising every 20 years or so to keep our government free from corruption …and he was 4th President it was good of him to keep us in mind .. never give up your right to keep us safe ….because the law is not doing that for us by taking our god given rights away
Great article, keep up the great work Mansfield. You can clean up this darn county.
I am frankly skeptical that those words were actually written by Sheriff Mansfield. They sound too fancy, I suspect he had one of the attorneys who work for the county write that. On the other hand, Sheriff Mansfield has always come across as pro-gun and pro-self-defense. But, in light of the strong stands other sheriffs are taking across the country in the face of the blatant attempted violation of our constitutional rights by the current administration, the letter was fairly dissapointing. How about saying NO FUCKING WAY, Obama, followed by Kiss my Ass?
J.Z. Very well said!
@Melissa and DCE…You have graduated from tin-foil hats to full-on straight jackets. You’ve “seen the proof”? Where, on the Internet? And they can’t put anything on the Internet that isn’t true, right?
Seriously, to use the deaths of 20 children to advance your paranoid conspiracy theories is low and shameful. We’re not sheep, we’re people who live in the real world. To say you ‘know the truth’ that is hidden from the rest of us reveals a deep delusion of gradeur. Seek help.
Thank you DCE, I can’t post links, but I have seen the proof. And to the one asking if I’m “playing w/ a full deck,” open your eyes! Ur part of the problem, don’t be a sheep!
No question the Obama administration and others are using this as a means of tightening control on guns, but I’m not sure “hoax” is the term I’d use any more than “set-up.” I’d call it “cynical political opportunism.”
The Sandy Hook Shooting is a Government Hoax. Wake up Mansfield because if you go for the gun grab your police uniforms will be nothing more than rags in the Future… Proof that Sandy Hook is a Government operation to take the guns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx9GxXYKx_8&bpctr=1359441125
Newtown was a “government setup,” Melissa? Seriously? I might agree that politicians and gun control groups are using Newtown to advance their agendas, but calling it a “setup” implies the government knew that screwball was going to kill 26 children and adults ahead of time and chose to let it happen. I hope you didn’t mean to say THAT.
BTW, if people want to turn in their guns, good for them, but they aren’t the ones to worry about.
A set-up? Really? Are you for real? I am a former female gun owner, a safe gun owner, one who took gun training, one who was licensed to carry a concealed weapon. I chose to give up my guns. That was my personal choice. What was best for me, may not be best for others. That said, Melissa are you playing with a full deck, I can only think you said what you did to see what kind of a response would be posted on here.
Sheriff Mansfield,
You have just lost my vote.
1) Your letter shows that you are actively ignorant of violence trends in America. That ignorance is unacceptable for a law enforcement professional.
2) Although you give strong lip service to “supporting the Second Amendment,” you immediately propose several limitations on this basic human right. This is unacceptable for an oath-bound public official.
3) Your pledge to close what you call a “loophole” — private sales of privately-owned property — shows that you have a fundamental misunderstanding of both the purpose and meaning of Constitutional limits on government power in this area.
Sir, these limits on what the government may lawfully do were intended specifically to protect ordinary people from the actions of well-intentioned government agents such as yourself. As a law enforcement agent, you have a difficult job, and you want ways to make that job easier. That is understandable. However, a policeman’s job is easy only in a police state. If the job is too difficult for you to perform within the limits of the Constitution you swore to uphold, you are not the person to do that job.
While giving lip service to your oath and to the Constitution, you have chosen to undermine both. That is why you have lost my vote.
Closing the Background check gun loophole? You mean closing the ability of law abiding citizens to sell or give their guns to other law abiding citizens or even giving guns as gifts to one’s own children without your approval? There is no gun show loophole like the media has said. Every gun being sold at the gun shows by those licensed to do so, goes through a background check before they receive the gun. Only in a private sale does the person not go through a check. Private sales mean those to your children, friends, etc. Closing this so called loophole will mean criminalizing passing on of a gun to your children without government approval. As with the school shootings lately, the majority of those were done by people who had stolen those weapons from legal family members (sometimes even killing them to get the guns). There will never be a way to prevent criminals from killing with guns as they will just steal them. The only people ever affected by new laws are those with a propensity to obey the law. Criminals will never be affected.
Newton was a gov’t setup! They did this so people would lay down &I give up their guns. The “lawyer” for the theater massacre is a “parent” from the school shooting. They forgot to change actresses!
you are fighting a impossible battle that will only require more funding and loss of citizens rights. You cant keep a gun out of anyones hands. Accept it and move on.
Mesays , I agree , I am the daughter of a Naval Gunners mate and grew up with guns all around me out here in the country. Times have changed a bit and we need to do something , that last school shooting almost undone me and I can not even imagine those folks pain , but we need to address this growing problem and do it without losing our rights. I see no problem with using more scrutiny. I myself have more then once been uneasy at a certain fellas gun ownership as I’m sure we would all admit to. In my job I have to submit to a background criminal check and it is mandatory. That does not offend me and I’ve made a few bad decisions in my youth. If it is determined that I should no longer be allowed a gun I can live with that. What I find hard to impossible to live with is some fruitloop going into my local gradeschool and slaughtering the babies in there. I thought the Sheriffs letter was fair and as hard as his job is I am glad I do not have to make those decisions. The NRA can screech all they want, where were they when all those babies were buried? This is NOT just a political agenda. Just ask them folks in Newton.
Like, very good.