JACKSON, MI – While the agenda was light, the meeting room was packed Tuesday, Jan. 21, for the monthly board meeting of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners.

Dozens of people showed up with a resolution, asking commissioners to declare Jackson County a “Second Amendment sanctuary county.” Numerous board members expressed support, but sent the proposed resolution to county attorneys before considering a decision.

The board will likely vote on the resolution at the 7 p.m. meeting Feb. 18, board members said. Meetings are hosted on the fifth floor of the Jackson County Tower Building, 120 W. Michigan Ave.

The resolution would support the county sheriff and prosecutor to use “their sound discretion to not enforce against any citizen an unconstitutional firearms law."

A similar push is popping up in every Michigan county through a Facebook group called “Michigan for 2A Sanctuary Counties,” which was created on Dec. 25 and already has 86,000 members. The Jackson version of the page has more than 230 members.

Efforts are in response to Virginia passing red flag gun laws – which would allow police to confiscate guns from people deemed threats.

Such laws are a threat to due process, said Bob Wilson, chairman of Jackson’s sanctuary county group.

"If someone doesn't like what you have to say, they'll just get on the phone and say, 'Hey, this guy's threatening to shoot up a school,'" Wilson said. "And then they'll just show up and grab (your guns), just because somebody wants to lie."

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pushed for similar extreme risk gun bills in Michigan after a weekend of deadly shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas in August.

Such laws will only hurt law-abiding gun owners, not criminals, Jackson’s sanctuary county group members told commissioners on Tuesday.

"We refuse to be punished for the actions of criminals," Wilson said. "We will not sit back and allow what happened in Virginia to happen in Michigan."

State Rep. Julie Alexander, R-Hanover, also spoke at Tuesday’s meeting in support of the resolution. She was a member of the Jackson board before winning a state legislature seat for 2017 and 2019.

“With the increased conversations on gun confiscation lately at a state and national level, Michigan residents are nervous,” Alexander said.

Wilson hopes gun supporters will fill the meeting room on Feb. 18, showing the board which side of the debate county residents stand on. Commissioners Phil Duckham, Tony Bair, David Elwell and Corey Kennedy expressed support of the resolution, during Tuesday’s meeting.

“Stay back. You cannot have our guns,” Wilson said. “Period.”

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