There wasn’t an empty seat at Thursday’s Daviess County Fiscal Court meeting, which was packed with those in support of making Daviess County a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
Jason Potts spoke on behalf of the 100 people in attendance as he addressed concerns that he and others have about losing their constitutional right to carry firearms.
“There have been some bills proposed in the 2020 legislative session that’s underway in Frankfort right now that would infringe upon the constitutional rights of your constituents,” Potts told commissioners. “Second Amendment supporters have come together and are contacting their state representatives and holding rallies in Frankfort to make sure opposition to these bills is known.”
Success in defending the Second Amendment has been seen across the state, Potts said, as elected representatives in 93 of 120 counties have designated their counties as Second Amendment Sanctuaries.
“This includes four counties that have already passed a resolution but are working to pass, hopefully, a stronger resolution,” he said.
Potts brought a visual aid showing the counties who’d passed 2A Amendments in green, many of which surrounded Daviess County, calling the weeks-long movement an “overwhelming success in a short amount of time.”
According to Potts, Second Amendment supporters in Daviess County need the support of County Commissioners in passing their stance of support along to Frankfort.
“We’re asking you to say you’re going to protect a right that is guaranteed by the Constitution,” Potts said.
The concern that a resolution does not have the same legal standing as an ordinance, that it’s just a symbolic gesture, was addressed by Potts, who claimed that the Declaration of Independence and Rosa Parks’ refusal to sit in the back of a bus were symbolic gestures that packed a lot of political punch.
“A symbolic gesture has a lot of power, even if it doesn’t have legal standing,” he said.
A local Facebook group in support of a 2A Amendment has garnered 2,200 members in a matter of weeks, and a petition with over 2,500 signatures made its way to County Commissioners Thursday night.
Judge-Executive Al Mattingly told the crowd that County Commissioners would look over the resolution presented by Potts to make Daviess County a 2A Sanctuary and take it under advisement. Mattingly advised the group to hire an attorney to represent them in moving forward, adding that a decision would likely be made over the next few weeks.
Mattingly did say that state legislation passed a law saying no local government could make any law, ordinance or policy regarding firearms, adding that he had his own concerns over proposed laws that infringed upon the rights of a gun owner.
“We have no control and no authority over it,” he said. “It’s you guys that have the power to address the state. We can tell them what we like and don’t like, but in the end, most local governments are forgotten in Frankfort. In the end, you’re the folks that send those guys to Frankfort to represent you. Unfortunately, the people in Virginia forgot that elections have consequences. Either they didn’t get out and vote, or they forgot to vote, because elections have consequences.”
