PDA

View Full Version : Former sheriff promotes law enforcement based on Constitution




disorderlyvision
08-07-2009, 07:59 PM
http://www.wmicentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20356379&BRD=2264&PAG=461&dept_id=505965&rfi=6


On March 30, 1981, a shot fired by gunman John Hinckley Jr. wounded President Ronald Reagan and permanently crippled Press Secretary James S. Brady. That assassination attempt had far reaching consequences for the nation and a former sheriff who spoke to a group of citizens gathered in Show Low Aug. 4.
Nearly 100 people crowded into a small room on the warm summer evening to listen intently to the message conveyed by Richard Mack, former sheriff of Graham County, Arizona.

A career in law enforcement led Mack to the conclusion that "the county sheriff is our nation's last line of defense for the preservation and return to fundamental and individual liberty." He put forth his ideas in his book, "The County Sheriff, America's Last Hope." Copies of the book may be ordered from www.sheriffmack.com or by writing to: PO Box 971, Pima, AZ 85543.

He believes fervently and instinctively that the freedom that is Americans' by right is being taken away from them and the Constitution is being gradually eroded. To counteract this trend, he has formed a group called "USA 1-911." The name was chosen because members believe the country is in a top priority emergency situation.

He has pledged his life to the cause of freedom. He said, "I am dedicated to saving my country. This has consumed my life."

His goal is to spread his message to every peace officer and citizen in the nation, especially the sheriffs. To reach that goal, he has appeared on TV shows, radio talk shows, on his Web site and YouTube, at Freedom Rallies and has spoken to hundreds of ordinary people gathered in small rooms across the country.

Mack, a fifth generation Arizonan, graduated from Eastern Arizona College and Brigham Young University with a degree in Latin American Studies and Sociology. He spent 11 years with the Provo, Utah, Police Department, then moved back to Arizona to run for Graham County Sheriff in 1988. He served two terms. While in office, he graduated from the FBI Academy but did not become an agent.

Backtrack to the shot that rang out in 1981. Following the presidential assassination attempt, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993. It went into effect Feb. 28, 1994, and that is when the conflict with local law enforcement began in parts of the country.

The bill required a waiting period of up to five days for a background check on a private citizen buying a gun from a dealer, manufacturer or importer licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department. It did not apply to private sales.

A provision in the bill mandated that local law enforcement officers do the background checks and pay for the service. In January 1994 the Arizona Sheriffs Association held a meeting in Phoenix. Mack said that three agents of the federal ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) handed out orders to about 12 sheriffs assembled, telling them what they had to do to enforce the federal act.

That set off Mack's alarm. He maintained the Brady Bill was unconstitutional, another unfunded federal mandate. As a police officer he had studied the Constitution.

"It was beautiful," he said. "My law enforcement training converted me to the Constitution. Now law enforcement works for the executive branch. We're off track."

He stated flatly that he wasn't going to enforce the Brady Bill. He met with all 14 Arizona sheriffs and none wanted to send the bill back to Washington and say no to the federal government.

"We don't work for ATF or the federal government. The president of the United States cannot tell a sheriff what to do," he said.

On Feb. 28, 1994, the day the Brady Bill went into effect, Mack filed a lawsuit in federal court in Tucson against President Bill Clinton. At the same time, Montana Sheriff Jay Printz filed a separate lawsuit. He was later joined by five others - seven sheriffs out of 3,000 in the United States.

The sheriffs won in district courts, but it was appealed and went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the sheriffs in 1997. (The five-day waiting period provision expired in 1998 when the National Instant Criminal Background Check System went online and it was no longer necessary.)

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Phoenix wrote: "In 1994 Sheriff Mack took a courageous stand to defend the U.S. Constitution and the autonomy of sheriffs against the Clinton Administration. His lawsuit and subsequent victory at the Supreme Court proved once and for all that the sheriff is indeed the ultimate law enforcement authority in his county and in this country."

Mack believes people have to stop looking to Washington, D.C., to solve their problems.

"We have to change the way we've been thinking and acting," he said. "Real change starts at home."

He quoted Ronald Reagan: "Government isn't the solution to the problem. Government is the problem."

He believes Americans have to decide if they want to keep the rule of law or succumb to political correctness.

Mack won his lawsuit, but gun control remains an issue. The anti-gun lobby is powerful, but he believes the people and the Second Amendment are more powerful.

"We need guns because we need to keep our liberty," he said. "Can we really take on this government? It has all the resources, all the power."

He added, "We can only do our duty and leave the rest to God ... Our fate lies in the hands of the state legislatures, county commissioners and the sheriffs ... your sheriff is your ultimate protector."

Mack made it clear he is not advocating any violent overthrow of the government or "speaking on the militia circuit" as some of the media have suggested.

"I don't even know what the militia circuit is," he said.

He only wants to return to the ideals set forth in the Constitution, and "a healthy balance of power between the states and the federal government."

That, he believes, is America's best defense against tyranny.

Mack is getting his word out the best way he knows how. He has written five books, and appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, Court TV, MSNBC, the Donahue Show, Crossfire and Showtime among others.

For more about Mack, go to www.sheriffmack.com or listen to an interview on YouTube.