An Oregon judge ruled Wednesday that local governments can not declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, further saying that the sheriffs that implemented a Second Amendment ordinance were embracing “racist and white nationalist ideologies.”
Chief Judge Jim Egan of the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the sheriffs did not have the authority to create sanctuaries that “create a ‘patchwork quilt’ of firearms laws in Oregon,” further saying that the sheriffs‘ arguments go in the “dustbin,” according to the ruling. Sheriffs in Oregon began to introduce Second Amendment sanctuaries after Oregon passed Ballot Measure 114, which requires background checks, firearm training, fingerprint collection and a permit to purchase any firearm.
“The arguments propounding unfettered access to guns, ammunitions, and implements of destruction give rise to waging of war on government because the proponents believe that our government is infected by those they hate,” Egan wrote. “As a judge, sworn to uphold the Oregon Constitution and the United States Constitution, I cannot stand by without identifying the origins of that argument, and the origins of the Ordinance. The history of white supremacist ideology in this country is older than the United States Constitution.”
NEW: Columbia County v. Oregon (OR state court): OR Court of Appeals rules Columbia County’s “Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance” is preempted by OR’s firearms preemption law. Judge Egan concurs, adding that the ordinance is also antisemitic and racist. https://t.co/IbxkJlq7vr pic.twitter.com/4kzCfjBJRq
— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) February 15, 2023
Egan accused the Sheriffs’ counsel of alluding to conspiracy theories about the United Nations (UN), saying that their belief that the UN will impose mandates that will require the state and local government to disarm the American public in violation of the Second Amendment is false, according to the ruling.
“In other words, Intervenors came before this court and referenced UN mandates, which, as explained below, is a well-documented trope meant to invoke white supremacist, antisemitic fear of a takeover of our country by outsiders and minorities who are manipulated by an elite class of supervillains,” Egan wrote.
Gun Owners of America (GOA), who backed the sanctuaries, “forcefully” denied the characterization of their argument, according to Fox News. (RELATED: Oregon Voters Narrowly Pass Highly Restrictive Gun Control Measure That Creates ‘Database’ Of Gun Owners)
“While we are very disappointed in this ruling against the clear vote of the people, we are more alarmed by the raucous secondary opinion by Judge Egan,” Senior Vice President for GOA Erich Pratt told Fox News. “These vitriolic accusations and opinionated commentary have no basis in fact or the law, and the radical viewpoints held by this judge are dangerous to constitutional doctrine and principle.”
The Oregon Firearms Federation condemned Egan’s opinion, saying it was a “lie” and “defamatory.”
“We have come to expect these kinds of mindless and false attacks from the left and their pawns in the media,” the group said in a release. “But coming from the bench, this kind of blatantly false and hate filled rhetoric, is not only unsettling, it is dangerous. It inspires violence and retribution. It is frankly, unhinged.”
The court of appeals ruling is the first legal defeat for the Second Amendment sanctuary movement, according to Fox News.
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