Sheriffs Prepare to Abandon Citizens to Federal Gun GrabBrandon Turbeville My case in point is Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews. Matthews conversion of Kershaw County into a virtual police state, as well as his continued attack on all things free, should thus have raised the suspicions as to the sincerity of many of the sheriffs who had attached their names to the Will Not Enforce list regarding the latest attempts at eliminating the Second Amendment. Of course, at issue is the fact that if new gun laws are passed banning assault weapons, assault weapons owners will no longer be following the law. This is why Matthews and other sheriffs were asked the question as to whether or not they would enforce such laws to begin with. Matthews went on to ask South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson for his opinion on the coming Federal gun grab. Essentially, Matthews requested AG Wilson to explain to him his responsibility as Sheriff when faced with an unconstitutional law. Still, Matthews stated that he does not believe sheriffs can stop federal agents from enforcing these laws in his jurisdiction. A lot of sheriffs want to be able to fall back on what the AG says on what we lawfully have to do or dont have to do, Matthews said. That opinion has finally arrived. Unfortunately, it confirms the weakness of state governments as well as the complete disregard for Constitutional, civil, and human rights at the federal, state, and local levels. According to Attorney General Wilson, if federal law enforcement officers attempt to enforce unconstitutional gun laws or even confiscate existing weapons, then neither state law nor state law enforcement officials can stand in the way. Going further, Wilson suggests that, if state or local law enforcement officials do attempt to impede federal assaults on the rights of South Carolinians, these state law enforcement officials would themselves be subject to criminal prosecution. Yet Wilsons opinion goes even further than stating that state and local law enforcement are unable to actually protect the rights of their citizens from federal assaults, it claims that federal agents are granted a type of immunity from state prosecution even if they are clearly violating Constitutional rights. The opinion states that federal agents are immune from state prosecution even when their conduct violated internal agency regulations or exceeded their express authority. This is quite a concerning statement to say the least. As the Kershaw County Patriots (KCP) wrote in the article, SC Attorney General: Come Get The Guns! KCP continues by writing, Yet, where Wilsons opinion truly falls apart is his statement that the Department (Kershaw County Sheriffs dept.) should neither interfere with nor otherwise attempt to impede federal law enforcement officers as they perform their lawful duties to enforce federal laws, and who act necessary and proper within federal authority. Simply reading this statement out of context would not ordinarily provide any reason for concern. Indeed, no department should interfere or attempt to impede federal law enforcement simply attempting to perform their lawful duties. However, this is precisely the issue. Are unconstitutional gun laws lawful duties? Are gun confiscation programs lawful duties? Even when discussing the repercussions of interfering with federal law enforcement agents who are carrying out unconstitutional laws, Wilson, citing the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, states, Indeed, while Wilson and sheriffs like Jim Matthews have interpreted, heard, and repeated exactly what they wanted to hear, the operative phrase in this statement is lawful duties. What is so concerning here, is that elected officials who are supposed to be well versed in the law and who are tasked with evaluating and enforcing that law for the benefit and protection of the citizens of South Carolina can interpret the passage and enforcement of laws eviscerating the Second Amendment, even to the point of gun confiscation, as a lawful duty of federal agents. Thus, one must ask themselves if these agents of the State are truly as interested in upholding the law as they may pretend to be. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, no one who was even vaguely familiar with Sheriff Jim Matthews was truly fooled into believing that he ever intended to stand up for the rights of Kershaw County residents. Indeed, Sheriff Matthews and the overwhelming majority (most likely all) American sheriffs are enforcing unconstitutional gun laws on a daily basis. While the cries of the need to enforce the gun laws we already have may seem reasonable, the fact is that these gun laws are themselves unconstitutional. Unfortunately, while many of these sheriffs may very well have the best interest of their citizens at heart, and may very well mean what they say in regards to their refusal to enforce any new federal gun laws, the reality is that they have no problem enforcing similarly unconstitutional gun laws today or even caging an entirely peaceful person for years simply because that person is in possession of a harmless plant. As KCP state in their article, We must always support law enforcement when they choose to make the right decision. We must express our support for any sheriff that truly intends to stand up to the federal or state governments in the event that they attempt to use their own agents for the purpose of violating our rights. However, let us not fool ourselves into believing we are witnessing a law enforcement revolution of freedom. Make no mistake about it, we are alone in this fight. Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelors Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of three books, Codex Alimentarius The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, and Five Sense Solutionsand Dispatches From a Dissident.Turbeville has published over 190 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbevilles podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com. 