Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Hurley — The Iron County Board of Supervisors decided 5-7 against a resolution declaring the county a Second Amendment sanctuary at its Tuesday meeting.
The resolution should have been a discussion item but was added as an action item on the agenda, said board chair Joseph Pinardi. A discussion would have been preferable to consider possible revisions that might have made the resolution more acceptable, he said.
Pinardi said he was a gun owner but didn’t see the need for the resolution. He, along with board member Kathleen Byrns, said that, irrespective of their preferences, they would vote against the resolution based solely on the number of constituents who were against it.
“My phone’s been ringing off the hook from anybody that had voted me in for the board in the city of Hurley, and everyone that called me so far is against this sanctuary,” Pinardi said.
The five members in favor of the resolution included Scott Erickson, Tanner Hiller, John Sendra, Thomas Thompson Jr. and Larry Youngs. The seven members were Byrns and Pinardi, Anne McComas, Patrick Hanson, Opal Roberts, Ken Saari and William Thomas.
Members Jamey Francis, Karl Krall and Brandon Snyder were not present.
Board member Ken Saari said that, as a gun owner, he believes in the constitutional protections of the Second Amendment for the rights of U.S. citizens to bear arms. But he said the resolution sets “a potentially dangerous precedent,” that opposes any legislation, without first having discussion. for any kind of change.
The resolution declares the process of creating laws as “tyranny,” he said. The resolution itself better fits the definition, he said.
“Nobody’s coming for our guns, Iron County,” Saari said.
Paul Hagemann, a Hurley dentist who also teaches youth firearms safety courses for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources programs and the Boy Scouts, said he is a “proud gun owner” who is also against the resolution.
“I think it’s just a divisive measure and it’s just based on fear,” he said.
It’s very difficult to buy ammunition right now because people are hoarding it, Hagemann said. That hoarding is driven by the fear and the resolution would add to that problem, he said.
“I just don’t see the need for it because I just don’t think it’s common sense,” Hagemann said.
A Montreal resident said the resolution would circumvent the role of government in creating laws and the courts in interpreting them. It is “insanity” for a resolution to ignore the process and go so far to oppose legislation that hasn’t even been created yet, he said.
Anne McComas said she could not agree with the resolution in asserting that the county would place discretion to interpret and enforce the constitutionality of gun laws with the sheriff’s office. The language circumvents the checks and balances of government and courts, she said.
“I’d also like to say that this is a blatantly political issue and we are supposed to be a non-partisan board,” McComas said. “If you open the door to this, the next thing you know, someone is going to introduce a voter sanctuary resolution and we’ll be telling each town clerk that they get to decide whether or not certain voter suppression laws are unconstitutional, like Voter ID.”
The county board cannot put itself in the position of taking sides by approving resolutions based on talking points of a particular political party, she said. The consequence will be resolutions coming from the talking points of the other political parties.
“I think that our authority as a town, as a county board, comes from being nonpartisan,” McComas said. “If we were partisan, people would be thinking that we had ulterior motives for deciding things the way we do. But we are nonpartisan. We’re trying to make our decisions according to what is best for the county.”
Neil Klemme, the 4-H youth development educator for UW Extension Iron County, read a letter from Jackie Bradley, a recent Hurley K-12 School graduate who served as a youth member of the county board but could not attend the meeting.
In the letter, Bradley said that as a hunter and range shooter, she does not feel there is a threat to hunting rifles and shotguns in her home, which is what the resolution speaks to but is really addressing assault rifles and military style weapons that should not be included.
The letter concluded by asking the board to concern itself with more important topics.
In support of his resolution to the board, Hiller said that 1,090, or roughly 30% of all 3,006 counties nationwide have passed some type of gun sanctuary resolution. Seventeen of 72 Wisconsin counties have a resolution with several more under consideration.
Board member John Sendra said that the resolution requires a history lesson. Tyranny begins when the guns are taken from citizens and it would happen slowly with laws that continue to erode the Second Amendment.
“For 200 years or better, our Constitution has served us well,” Sendra said. “I’m very partisan when it comes to the Constitution.”
An Oma resident who winters in Florida brought a sample resolution from a Florida community that he felt better stated the right of communities to declare such resolutions. He asked that the board not make the resolution a political issue but to recognize the need for preservation of state and individual rights.
John Olkonen, of Carey, said the Second Amendment issue has motivated him to be more engaged in local issues and government. He said “change requires action” in supporting the resolution.
“I don’t think it goes far enough, honestly,” Olkonen said.
