Editor,

My challenge to Dwight Nothstein: The New York City Police Department intends on adopting amendments to its "rules" pertaining to rifle and shotgun ownership.

Handguns are illegal in the city; however, now they are going after the long guns. The requirements "proposed" to own a rifle or shotgun are so stringent, that a person could be denied their right to do so if a governmental official decides "presumably" that a person is not of good moral character.

Basically, if a person submitting to the police, asking permission to exercise their second amendment rights (sic) to the constitution is found to have ("only presumably" by the "evaluation of an administrative official") one or more incidents of domestic violence, (no conviction required), a poor driving record, or has been declared a "scofflaw" by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, he or she will be denied their second amendment rights.

A scofflaw is defined as someone who violates the law or fails to answer court summonses, including traffic summonses.

In fact the truth is that if this amendment to the NYPD "rules" passes, the police and other officials will be allowed to strip the citizens of their second amendment rights at any time for any arbitrary reason. Even if they deem that a citizen has a bad attitude and fails to show up to court for a traffic ticket.

Such is exactly the reason why the national organization called "Oath Keepers" was formed and exists. I am in fact the Pennsylvania Chapter president and I can affirm to the fact that we exist to educate the nation's oath-takers on their constitutional responsibilities to the citizens.

Every oath-taker has an individual responsibility to identify lawful orders and also the unlawful ones. To obey lawful orders and safeguard the self evident "natural rights" of the citizens and to disobey orders that take those rights away from them.

After all our right to defend ourselves doesn't come from government, it comes from God and it cannot be taken away by a "presuming" administrative official." The Constitution itself is just an affirmation of our natural rights.

Should such "orders" ever be given to deny the second amendment rights of a Citizen based on the presumption of a bureaucrat, we would advise members of law enforcement to stand down and disobey such clearly unconstitutional and thus unlawful orders. Every oath-taker has the very clear legal responsibility to do so. Civil and criminal punishments are often times the result of governmental officials who obey unlawful orders.

I have recently announced my bid for the position of Carbon County sheriff and I will affirm and pledge here and now to the citizens of Carbon County, that should I ever receive such orders, that I will refuse to carry them out.

I will also refuse to obey any order from the president of the United States to enforce gun control that would override the second amendment by U.S. treaty.

My opponent, Dwight Nothstein, was recently quoted by a member of the media as calling my group (Oath Keepers) and our message "radical." While calling our intentions to disobey clearly unlawful orders radical, Nothstein explained his intentions as sheriff and gave a "Barney Fife" style answer, that he would protect the rights of the people and do what he's supposed to do.What? Actually protecting and "defending" the constitutional rights of the citizens by disobeying clearly unlawful orders is considered radical under the Nothstein watch? Didn't the Nazis use that defense at the Nuremberg trials, that they were just doing what they were supposed to do - following orders.

You have to talk the talk and also "walk the walk" and you have to have the courage to take a sometimes unpopular stand for righteousness.

To ascribe to the philosophy that you can protect the civil rights of the citizens without taking a principled stand against wrongful orders and edicts is both naive and woefully inadequate. If you do the math it just doesn't add up.

I look forward to meeting you on the campaign trail and debating this issue with you face to face in great detail!

Steven Armbruster,

Candidate for Carbon County sheriff