CO Sheriff Says He’ll Go to Jail Before Enforcing Gun Confiscation Law

Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams says he will go to jail before enforcing the confiscatory Red Flag Law passed by Democrat lawmakers in Colorado.

The Greeley Tribune reports that the gun confiscation bill has been sent to Gov. Jared Polis’ (D) desk and will become effective January 1, 2020, if he signs it. Sheriff Reams plans to mount a legal fight against the law before it takes effect and, if legal challenges fail, he will refuse to enforce.

When asked about going to jail for refusing to enforce the law, Reams told the Coloradoan: “I’d much rather see this get worked out in the courts and dealt with in the courts before it ever comes to that point. But if and when the time comes, and this issue hasn’t been worked out in the courts, then yeah, this is the last choice that I have.”

He told CNN that his refusal to enforce the law is “a matter of doing what’s right.”

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith noted that the confiscatory aspect of the Red Flag Law could cause an individual to become an even greater threat once his guns are taken:

This may sound simplistic, but between the firearms locked up in the house, or the individual, the firearms left alone are not a threat. The individual is deemed to be (the threat.) If we take the firearms away, it doesn’t take away the angst they had if we don’t get them help. It probably leaves them very angry and frustrated with government and maybe anybody who was behind issuing this.

Smith added, “If it’s a powder keg, it gets worse if we leave. Certainly, we know many other ways for people to act out violently, with edged instruments, with bludgeons, with vehicles, with any number of things.”

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. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.