Chief Loren Culp has refused to enforce the new state gun control laws.
A police chief in Washington says the state’s new strict gun laws are violating the US Constitution.
Chief Loren Culp has refused to enforce the new state gun control laws.
Culp says neither he nor his department will be upholding Washington’s new Initiative 1639, arguing the gun control legislation directly violates the Second Amendment, according to kxly.
Initiative 1639 was on the ballot this November making Washington’s gun control one of the strictest in the nation.
The law raises the age to buy “semiautomatic assault rifles” to 21 and requires compulsory training along with stricter background checks.
It also implements a 10-day waiting period on any purchases of the weapon and also adds a fee.
According to WJ: It also makes it a Class C felony to store a weapon in such a manner where a prohibited person can gain access to it and either display it or commit a crime with it.
“Initiative 1639 passed with a statewide approval of nearly 60 percent of the vote,” KXLY reports.
“In Ferry County, where Republic is located, 73 percent of voters said no to the measure, which was 2,542 votes against.”
Chief Culp is definitely in the against column — and he used the official Facebook page of his police department to let everyone know it.
“I’ve talked with quite a few concerned citizens today so let me clear something up,” Culp wrote.
“I’ve taken three public oaths, one in the US Army and Two as a police officer. All of them included upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States of America.
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Republic Police Chief Loren Culp is proposing a “2nd Amendment Sanctuary City” in his Eastern Washington town. It would “prevent federal and state infringement on the right to keep and bear arms,” Culp wrote on Facebook. https://t.co/Bm9PYDFNZx pic.twitter.com/AdVHlwHlqg
— KING 5 News (@KING5Seattle) November 17, 2018
“The second amendment says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” he added.
“As long as I am Chief of Police, no Republic Police Officer will infringe on a citizens right to keep and Bear Arms, PERIOD!”
“We took an oath to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the State of Washington, and (I-1639) completely flies in the face of both the U.S. and the state constitution,” he said.
The Facebook page also posted the text of an ordinance that would be proposed to the council, prohibiting the enforcement of laws that are an “infringement of the right to keep and bear arms.”
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“The ordinance also called on neighboring communities and jurisdictions in the state to pass similar ordinances, and for the copies of the ordinance to be transmitted to the lawmakers that represent that district for them to introduce legislation on the matter next session,” KXLY reported.
Culp, meanwhile, believes the ordinance eventually won’t be needed.
“I believe, eventually, this will be overturned in the courts, but that could take some time,” he said.