Montgomery County holds off on ‘second amendment sanctuary’ resolution – KMAland

(Red Oak) -- Resident's hopes of making Montgomery County a second amendment sanctuary will have to wait.

Meeting in regular session Tuesday morning, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors discussed the potential of making Montgomery County a second amendment sanctuary. The discussion comes after county resident Jerald Palmquist introduced a resolution passed by Page County in October to declare their county a second amendment sanctuary. The board heard from those in favor and against the idea during the public comment period, including resident Glenn Mason, who says he's against the idea of any "sanctuary."

"My thing has nothing to do with the second amendment, mine is only that I do not think that local (governments) should pick and choose which laws they're going to obey, and which ones they're not going to obey," Mason said. "You know if you don't like a law and say it infringes your rights, take it to court."

However, resident Michael Luna says he feels the second amendment can protect the others under attack, including the first amendment.

"It's not of matter of if, it's a matter of when because of what they're doing to the first amendment, they're going to do it to the second amendment, they're going to come for your guns," Luna said. "I'm not necessarily a gun nut, but I believe in the right to keep and bear arms. It's up to the local and state governments to stand up to government overreach by the federal government. It has to start here, it has to start in this room, and start in this town."

Currently, at least 28 other counties in Iowa have signed on to the ordinance, including Page, Mills, Adams, Taylor, Ringgold, and Union counties in KMAland.

Montgomery County Attorney Drew Swanson also advised the board that, as of right now, the sanctuary resolution appears to carry little weight if challenged.

"It hasn't been challenged at the federal level at all yet from what I can see, so there's really no precedent to go by," Swanson said. "However, what I have found is that the legal community is likely seeing this as not really enforceable if push should come to shove. So you can do it, but it's questionable how much weight it would carry if it were challenged at some level."

Montgomery County Sheriff Jon Spunaugle and several board members felt more research was needed to determine whether the resolution was even necessary.

Thus, the Board of Supervisors took no formal action on the topic Tuesday and will bring the discussion of making the county a second amendment sanctuary back to their agenda on their January 11th meeting at 8:30 a.m.

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Montgomery County holds off on 'second amendment sanctuary' resolution - KMAland