NRA secretly worked with sheriffs who refuse to enforce gun laws

Reuters reported on Monday that the gun safety group Brady Campaign uncovered 1,600 documents, including email conversations, between the NRA and New Mexico sheriff Tony Mace, head of the New Mexico Sheriffs Association (NMSA). The documents show the NRA coordinating with the extremist group of sheriffs to ignore and subvert laws designed to keep people safe from gun violence.

While the NRA has often opposed popular new gun-safety proposals with the excuse that there are already laws on the books, this recent report shows the NRA interacting with a group subverting gun laws despite claiming to support existing legislation.

“The NRA was actively involved in the NMSA’s efforts in drafting the (sanctuary) Declaration; recruiting sheriffs to lobby state and political politicians to oppose the GVP (gun-violence prevention) bills and to adopt so-called Second Amendment Sanctuary Resolutions; and encouraging sheriffs to not enforce state laws,” the Brady Campaign told Reuters.

NMSA is one of several sheriff’s groups that are part of the so-called “Second Amendment sanctuary” movement, known to push the idea that local sheriffs can ignore gun laws they disagree with.

For example, the NMSA has pushed sheriffs to ignore “red flag” laws that have been implemented to remove guns from people who legally determined to be a threat to themselves or others, even though these laws have been repeatedly shown to save lives.

“These elected officials promised to fight for the well-being of their communities. Instead, they are fighting to protect the bottom line of the gun lobby,” Kelly Drane, lead researcher at Giffords Law Center, said in a statement.

The revelation is yet another black eye in what seems like a neverending parade of calamities for the gun extremist group.

In just the last few months, the NRA urged its supporters to attack a mother already receiving death threats, made racist remarks about a congresswoman, had an embarrassing internal lawsuit exposed to the world, had a Russian spy in its midst exposed, and saw the House pass gun legislation it has opposed for years.

The NRA’s extremism has run unchecked for decades, but its role in making the country unsafe is becoming more and more exposed.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.