The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, an association of county sheriffs who believe that they have the power to resist federal laws and arrest federal officials who they believe are violating the Constitution, is attempting to get more sheriffs who adhere to its ideology elected by launching a candidate survey that asks under what circumstances candidates for sheriff would be willing to buck the federal government.

In one survey question, CSPOA asks potential sheriffs what they would do if they were ordered to “cite or arrest” citizens who refuse to participate in “nationalized healthcare,” a question that appears to be based on the myth that those who refuse to buy a health insurance plan or pay a fee will be put in jail:

Congress has just recently passed nationalized healthcare. It appears that all citizens will be required by “law” to participate in this federal healthcare regulation. If citizens in your jurisdiction refuse to accept or use this federal program and you are ordered to cite or arrest such “troublemakers,” what will you do? a. Warn my citizens ahead of time to make sure they all use federal healthcare to prevent any of them from going to jail for failure to comply. b. Help federal agents serve warrants on anyone and everyone who might be found violating the healthcare laws in my county/parish. c. I will serve any court order and enforce all laws, regardless of my personal feelings about such laws. d. I will never enforce any such law or serve any warrants from any court to arrest citizens for refusing to participate in any federal program; not for healthcare or anything else. In fact, I will stand next to my constituents and put myself on the line to protect them from such abuse.

Another question asks what candidates would do if the federal government or the UN launched “door to door gun confiscation”:

If the Federal Government or the United Nations were to implement a policy of door to door gun confiscation in your jurisdiction, what would you do? a. Help them confiscate the guns. b. Interpose myself on behalf of the people to protect their right to keep and bear arms. c. Not interfere one way or the other. A sheriff has no authority to stop the Federal Government from doing anything. d. I don’t worry about such a scenario as this would never happen in America

Although CSPOA’s head, former Sheriff Richard Mack, said he opposed the anti-government occupation of a wildlife refuge in Oregon this year, the occupiers were influenced by CSPOA’s ideas and Mack has been using the standoff to rally support for his group.