CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A handful of West Virginia sheriffs have publicly declared they won't enforce any new federal laws that they believe violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms, though the organization that represents all 55 has yet to take a stand in the growing debate over curtailing gun violence.
Media outlets report that Boone County Sheriff Randall White sent a letter this week to President Barack Obama, while Roane County Sheriff Mike Harper and Wood County Sheriff Ken Merritt signed a petition created by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association to become a "line in the sand" against the federal government.
"The county sheriff is the one who can say to the feds, 'Beyond these bounds you shall not pass,'" that group says. "This is not only within the scope of the sheriff's authority; it's the sheriff's sworn duty."