Group doubles down on efforts to make county a Second Amendment sanctuary
Two men, during the Catoosa County commissioners’ May 19 meeting, held signs over their heads and demanded the county declare itself a Second Amendment sanctuary.
Their brief demonstration took place during the Board of Commissioners’ public comment period, just moments after the board passed a proclamation declaring May 25-31, 2020, as Constitutional Awareness and Celebration Week. The proclamation places special emphasis on gun rights under the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to bear arms.
The proclamation, read during the Board of Commissioners’ May 19 meeting, “reiterate(s) the support of the Board of Commissioners of the rights and protections afforded to the citizens of Catoosa County under the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Georgia, including but not limited to those guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment.”
But the proclamation falls short of a local group’s efforts earlier this year to make Catoosa a Second Amendment sanctuary.
A spokesman for that group addressed commissioners during a Feb. 4 board meeting. At that meeting resident Ray Blankenship identified himself as administrator of Catoosa County’s Second Amendment Sanctuary Group. He presented a “petition/proposition” basically asking the county to adopt a resolution protecting local gun owners against any new legislation that threatens the right to bear arms.
“I’ve been a resident and law-abiding citizen of Catoosa County for a decade,” Blankenship said at the time. “This is a petition/proposition to make Catoosa County, Georgia, a Second Amendment sanctuary in reference to resist any state or federal legislation that could further restrict constitutional rights of citizens listed under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
Second Amendment sanctuaries, also known as gun sanctuaries, refers to states, counties, or cities that adopt laws or resolutions to prohibit or impede the enforcement of gun control measures that are perceived as violations of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. Hundreds of counties and cities have passed similar resolutions.
Board Chairman Steven Henry admonished the two men for not adhering to the meeting’s COVID-19 distancing requirement. “We’ve got a 6-foot social distance rule.
The May 19 Board of Commissioners’ meeting can be seen in its entirety on the Catoosa County government’s Facebook page (Catoosacountyga).
Just click on the “Videos” link in the left-side menu and look for “Catoosa County BOC Meeting 5-1920.”
Could y’all act adult?” he asked.
The board has been conducting meetings remotely and without public participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The May 19 meeting was its first return to a meeting that included public participation.
GUNS,