Seattle Times:
County sheriffs who say they won’t enforce Washington’s new, stricter gun laws could be held liable if they refuse to perform enhanced background checks and someone who shouldn’t buy a gun is able to buy one and uses it in a crime, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said on Tuesday.
In an open letter to law enforcement, Ferguson wrote that he was confident the wide-ranging law was constitutional and would withstand court challenges, but that he was concerned about threats — mostly from county sheriffs — to not enforce the new law.
At least 13 county sheriffs have said they won’t enforce the law, Initiative 1639, which voters passed by a wide margin in November.
Are you going to let him talk to you like that? Oh … probably so.
It is unclear how many of the sheriffs and police chiefs who have vowed not to enforce the law planned to not conduct the background checks.
For instance, Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond called the law unconstitutional and said he wouldn’t enforce it, but said he supported the 10-day waiting period and the enhanced background checks.
“Certainly we’re going to follow all of those type of things,” Raymond said.
If other sheriffs do not, however, Ferguson said they could be held liable if a gun sale that would have been prevented by the new background checks goes through and then someone uses that gun in a crime.
“The taxpayers of your city or county assume the financial risk of your decision to impose your personal views over the law,” he wrote.
Take note that surviving a challenge doesn’t mean that the law is constitutional, it just means that some tyrant, or gaggle of tyrants, lets it go.
So that’s the plan, just as I have said all along. They will come after your money, your licenses, your reputation, your job, and your ability to do business.
In this case, he’s bullying the citizens of those respective counties to force compliance with the law by the Sheriffs out of fear of financial liability.
It’s almost as if they want to fight, or something.