OUR VIEW: Sheriff says he'll undermine gun ban
The Colorado State University Board of Governors voted unanimously Tuesday to place students at both of its campuses in harm’s way with a sweeping weapons ban law-abiding citizens will obey and criminals will ignore.Sounds like Sheriff Alderden has it about right. I'm wondering if we can get him to run for higher office, perhaps? He makes a lot of sense:Larimer County Sheriff James Alderden, outraged by the ban, told The Gazette’s opinion department he will undermine it in the interest of student safety.
“I have told the CSU police chief I will not support this in any way,” Sheriff Alderden told The Gazette. “If anyone with one of my permits gets arrested for concealed carry at CSU, I will refuse to book that person into my jail. Furthermore, I will show up at court and testify on that person’s behalf, and I will do whatever I can to discourage a conviction. I will not be a party to this very poor decision.”Thank you, Sheriff Alderden. Thank you for not taking an "Only Ones" approach - obviously, your men are armed and can legally remain armed on college campuses. It's refreshing to see a Law Enforcement official who realizes that "Gun Free Zones" are nothing more than "Victim Disarmament Zones" and will do nothing to keep people safe. In fact, all a school-wide gun ban does is give a potential mass murderer a compliant, unarmed victim base.
Why can't we find more like Sheriff Alderden?
That is all.
6 comments:
Jay,
Does this in any way relate to the very recent middle-school shooting in Littleton, CO?
- Brad
(@Brad_in_MA: No, this has been in the works for months.)
So, if you're a CSU student, what do you do? The school says that you can't carry, and that they're going to kick you out and have you arrested for doing so, but the local fuzz is on your side. CSU can still boot you from the university. The Sheriff will come to court and testify on your behalf, but it's still up to the judge/jury, so you could still go to jail. Additionally, I'm pretty sure (though not 100%) that---here in Colorado---carrying on a campus that bans carrying is not only against campus policy but against state law (and I think it's a felony).
So do you take the risk? I know I can't---I'm a student at CU Boulder, where not only are the police not on my side (in fact, when I went to the local PD to ask some questions about local regs regarding carrying, I got the answer "just don't"), but any jury found locally will be pretty easy to stack. (And the CO court system recently ruled that, as a state constitutionally-endowed body, the CU board of regents makes policies that carry the weight of law.) But for a CSU student, with this Sheriff in town?
This is kickass on the part of Sheriff Alderden. It's rare a public official takes such a strong stance on this side of the law. I wish my own local law enforcement was so forward thinking.
Jay, You're also totally right when you say this law will only take guns away from law abiding citizens. Obviously the Sheriff recognizes this, though the school doesn't.
Oustanding! :-) One wonders if he is a Promise Keeper?
Considering HE is the one issuing the licenses, anything less on his part would be saying that he isn't doing his job.
A bit of history. Sherriff Alderden helped write Colorado's CCW law and was a bit part of why it got passed.
I just wish there were about 100 more of the guy.
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