L owville, NY- A crowd estimated at over 300 people turned out for a meeting of

the Lewis County Board of Legislators this evening, as a citizen group's proposal

urging county lawmakers to pass a local law to declare Lewis County a Second

Amendment Sanctuary was presented to the board. The crowd spilled out of the

second floor legislative boardroom at the Lewis County Court House, filling the

hallways outside and streaming down the staircase and stretching back to the

security entrance in the lobby.



The vast majority of the crowd was there in support of the proposal, as seen by

their applause and reactions to the speakers in favor of the proposal. A total of 7

people signed up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. Of

those, five spoke in favor of the proposal. Two others spoke in opposition to the

proposal. Lewis County Sheriff Michael Carpinelli then addressed the board and

the crowd, speaking in favor of the proposal, earning a standing ovation from the

crowd after concluding his remarks.



The Facebook group Lewis County and Towns 2A Sanctuary organized a

petition drive in favor of the proposal, where they say 2,961 signatures were

collected at 37 local businesses since the group started in early January.



Lawrence Dolhof, Chairman of the Board, said the board would take all of the

information into consideration as they look at the issue. The process would likely

start at the committee level. Chairman Dolholf cautioned that the board works

slowly and deliberately when making decisions.



Full video from the public comment portion of this evening's meeting is included

below.

