TCSO Statement from Greg Hamilton re: Gun Control

[ShepherdTX]

From the Travis County Sheriff Facebook.

From the Office of Greg Hamilton;
The Travis County Sheriff’s Office has a long history of doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

When I was elected I took an Oath of Office, and in that Oath I said that I would enforce and obey the laws of the State of Texas and of the United States. I am now in my third term as the Sheriff of Travis County and can see no reason why I should change my stance now.

I agree with many of the Sheriff’s across the country that have made public statements that good, responsible, law abiding citizens should not be punished for bearing arms, a trust given to all citizens by the Second Amendment.

I do not question the Second Amendment…..”The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” That is the law of the land. In spite of that, I believe, the proposition that any regulation of guns is unconstitutional is impractical. Our Constitution and laws provide procedures for challenging the constitutionality of a law. However if law enforcement officials pick and choose whatever laws to obey, we will lose something that’s embedded in our constitution and necessary for our democracy to survive; the rule of law.

I believe in the Constitution of the United States. That document tells us that the Congress shall enact laws. It goes on to say that the President has the power to veto laws that Congress enacts and that the courts shall rule on the constitutionality of the laws. Nowhere does it say that Sheriffs can pick and choose which law, made by congress and ruled on by the courts, to enforce.

Sheriff’s around the country have said that they would not enforce some laws that have not even been enacted yet. This I cannot do. I refuse to talk about hypothetical laws, for it serves no purpose. The bottom line is I will enforce all the laws that are lawfully enacted.

There is no federal gun ban in place. No one has asked the Travis County Sheriff’s Office to take anyone’s gun nor is there any federal officials coming to get your guns.

Please understand that the courts and not law enforcement officials have the authority to determine whether a law is unconstitutional. As for me, I will honor my Oath of Office which reads,

I, Greg Hamilton, do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of Sheriff of Travis County, of the State of Texas, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State, so help me God.

I for one am a bit disappointed.

[RustES]

I cannot at heart disagree with what he has said...about not picking and choosing the laws he enforces.

I have never liked him, and never voted for him, and never will again on both accounts.


I will say though...I too am disappointed.

[TexasCajun]

Sadly this I'd becoming the new normal. Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas are rapidly becoming liberal islands in our otherwise wonderfully conservative homeland. At least this sheriff acknowledges the fact that there currently is a 2nd Amendment.

[MasterOfNone]

I guess he missed the part where the DOJ said local authorities cannot enforce federal laws.

[texanjoker]

I was told by the gun dealer he will not sign the form required for us to get a silencer. You have to go a trust route?

[baldeagle]

Translation: I believe in the 2nd Amendment until Congress takes it away.

[MeMelYup]

Translation: I believe in the 2nd Amendment until Congress takes it away.

Congress can't take it away. Only the people can vote it away.

[Jaguar]

Translation: I believe in the 2nd Amendment until Congress takes it away.

Congress can't take it away. Only the people can vote it away.

The people cannot vote it away, only God can resend a human right.

[wil]

Translation: I believe in the 2nd Amendment until Congress takes it away.

Congress can't take it away. Only the people can vote it away.

The people cannot vote it away, only God can resend a human right.

Damn right..
Inherent rights can neither be rescinded or taken away. Only the freedom to engage in such rights without infringment can be impacted by government at any level, almost invariably by violence against the individual at the hands of government.

[baldeagle]

Translation: I believe in the 2nd Amendment until Congress takes it away.

Congress can't take it away. Only the people can vote it away.

Some in Congress would disagree with you.

[alvins]

just because they cant take the 2nd amendment away doesnt mean they cant make it difficult to posses one.

[baldeagle]

darn right..
Inherent rights can neither be rescinded or taken away. Only the freedom to engage in such rights without infringment can be impacted by government at any level, almost invariably by violence against the individual at the hands of government.

Yes, and it appears the government is preparing to inflict that violence upon the population. So, your God-given rights will only last as long as you do, and unless a significant number of people are willing to fight and possibly die for those rights, they will go away. Ask the Jews, the Romanians, the Poles, the North Koreans, the Chinese, etc., etc. how much their God-given rights mattered. Far too few Americans realize how serious the issues really are or what it will take to correct the problems in this country.

Talk is cheap. There may come a time when we will find out for how many those words actually meant something more than rhetoric.

[K.Mooneyham]

Translation: I believe in the 2nd Amendment until Congress takes it away.

Congress can't take it away. Only the people can vote it away.

The people cannot vote it away, only God can resend a human right.

I agree, a government of men can only block you from exercising such rights, but they cannot actually take them away. Blocking the exercise of God-given rights is an illegitimate act. Words do matter, which is why the political left pushes so hard for political correctness and seeks to redefine the meaning of things on a regular basis.

[gigag04]

"I was just following orders..."

[longtooth]

W/ all of the above.

Dont know that sheriff but he is not welcome at my table.