Certain people in Marshall County are hopping mad because they say a majority of their county commissioners have yet to pass a resolution that would declare their area a Second Amendment sanctuary.
And they’re not holding anything back on what they think and feel about it.
Dewey Hunter, who said he leads a local group called Tennessee Stands United – Marshall County, is among those irate residents.
Hunter said one county commissioner, Tony Beyer, worked to table such a Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution at last week’s commission meeting.
“They (the commissioners) call themselves officials now, but they used to be public servants, and that is what they are. If we voted them in then they work for us,” Hunter told The Tennessee Star.
“I can understand if they want to be on a building committee and want to regulate how many fence posts you have along a 100-foot stretch. That’s cool. But they don’t talk to the people that they represent in their district. They are trying to make decisions on Second Amendment rights to not be infringed on by these red flag laws. Yet they are trying to get this (resolution) thrown out and they table it each time just to extend it out. I don’t think they are talking to people they represent.”
Hunter said that Beyer, if asked why he moved to table the resolution, “will just play dumb,” even if “all of Marshall County is angry at him.”
Beyer explained his actions to The Star.
“My side of the story is real simple. There is a state law talking about sanctuary stuff, for refugees and other things. In the law, it says if a municipality votes in a sanctuary situation then they are precluded from receiving Economic and Community Development grant money from the state. All I said was ‘Let’s have our county attorney research the law and make sure we don’t do anything that makes us ineligible for ECD grants,’” Beyer said Friday.
“So what we did was we voted to table that resolution until next month and give the county attorney time to research it and be able to give us a definitive answer as to whether that ECD money would be impacted for us. We weren’t voting to say no. We just said ‘Hey, before we vote something in that could have consequences let’s make sure we know what we’re doing.’”
Commissioner Vincent Cuevas, who proposed the Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution, said Beyer is misleading people.
“Everybody got scared by the idea of taking away money. He deceived everybody,” Cuevas said.
“The only reason I say that is because he is an intelligent person.”
Hunter, meanwhile, said he doesn’t accept Beyer’s side of the story. Hunter and Cuevas said Beyer has had at least two months to ponder the resolution.
“I don’t care what the commissioners do,” Hunter said.
“They can go back to regulating fence posts and ditch lines. That doesn’t bother me, but don’t start messing with the county’s Second Amendment rights.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Marshall County Courthouse” by Ichabod. CC BY-SA 3.0.
In the Tennessee Constitution, the citizens of Tennessee DECLARE our right to keep and bear (carry) arms for self defense as our right. The States created the Federal Government by the Constitution and added the Bill of Rights declaring the rights of the People in their States. So our Tennessee Counties should declare themselves to be sanctuaries for the Tennessee Constitution’s Ddclaration of Rights which includes the inviolable right of armed self defense. And, they right should not be restricted to handguns. The State has NO authority to violate the right to keep and carry arms by excluding long guns. The State and our elected officials and agents MUST obey their oaths to the wording of the State and U.S. Constitutions. Otherwise they are UNFIT to serve under the delegated powers of a free People!
Amazing what some people will come up with to defend a indefensible position.