By MARC FOLCO

May 25, 2014 12:00 AM

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson spoke eloquently at a Second Amendment Night recently, sponsored by the Fairhaven Republican Town Committee and held at the West Island Improvement Association Hall in Fairhaven.

Among many topics covered, Hodgson interestingly attributed an increase in the number of women obtaining firearms licenses to recent major storms.

"Hurricane Katrina is a good example of how and why women need the proper tools to protect themselves," he said. "People need guns for more than just hunting and target practice."

The Sheriff explained that during the aftermath of the storm, women were home alone, many with their children, when vicious gangs of looters went house to house, stealing, beating and, he said, sometimes murdering women in their homes because their husbands hadn't been able to get home through the mayhem.

Hodgson also said that the primary duty of a sheriff is to uphold the Constitution and he, along with many sheriffs from across the country, are becoming increasingly upset with encroachments on the Constitution, especially those upon the Second Amendment.

He stated that he is a supporter of the Second Amendment and believes that American citizens have the right to bear arms unequivocally.

"It's a violent society," he said. "Nobody in this country should feel that they shouldn't defend themselves."

Hodgson said that too many politicians are pushing for gun control and bans on certain guns, calling it a "Band-aid approach, and certainly not the solution."

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Open Season: Sheriff Hodgson talks of changed stance on assault weapons