Sheriff: Violent Criminals Will Ignore New Gun Control as They Do the Old

Benton County, Minnesota, Sheriff Troy Heck posted a letter to Facebook over the weekend expressing his conviction that violent criminals will ignore new gun controls in much the same way as they ignore the old ones.

MN Gun Owners Caucus tweeted about Heck’s letter, written in response to questions about gun controls being pushed by Minnesota’s Democrat legislators.

Universal background checks and gun storage requirements are among the controls being considered, and Heck is concerned that law-abiding citizens will be impacted while criminals will not.

Heck wrote, in part, “In general, I have my doubts that layering additional requirements upon law-abiding gun owners is going to substantially impact the surges in violent crime experienced in recent months primarily in larger metropolitan areas. Even if enacted, violent criminals are going to disregard these new laws in the same manner that they disregard our current laws.”

He added, “I don’t believe expanding the requirement for background checks to personal sales will impact violent crime. In my opinion, those engaged in violent crime are very unlikely to obtain guns from an individual who would require the criminal to produce proof of their eligibility to possess a gun.”

Heck also addressed the gun storage push, observing, “Our state already has a law requiring gun owners to ensure their guns are stored in a way that prevents children from accessing a loaded firearm. I don’t believe it should be the business of the state to mandate the manner in which individuals comply with the legal requirement of safe firearm storage.”

In one part of the letter Heck indicated, “In my opinion, infusing our criminal justice system with greater personal accountability for those who commit crimes and reversing the recent push by select portions of our political leadership to consistently lighten sentences and remove accountability is what is required.”

Watch: Universal Background Checks = Gun Registry

ahawkins

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.