There’s a New Sheriff in Town
Right here in my home county, the Republican primary got rid of the short, undereducated, bully guy who played politics instead of running a sheriff’s department. The Republicans replaced him with a short, undereducated, bully guy who plays politics instead of running a sheriff’s department.
The only difference is that new guy is a veteran who has never seen combat and fancies himself a major national political figure and a constitutional scholar. Well, he does have a degree from Jerry Falwall’s Liberty University, which does bestow upon its owners the right to be wrong.
The new sheriff, Troy Nehls, called the President of the United States and the Commander in Chief “that clown in Washington,” during the campaign. So, in his mind, he figured that if Obama was a clown, he himself had a duty to be one, too.
So, on Friday he issued a press release —
The Sheriff’s Office is committed to respect and defend all unalienable rights of the citizens of Fort Bend County
The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office has received several requests for a statement in response to recent attention and federal executive orders relating to the right to keep and bear arms. Please accept this press release as a response in both my personal capacity and in my capacity as the Sheriff of Fort Bend County.
I have spent my career serving in law enforcement and with the United States Armed Forces for the purpose of protecting the liberties and freedoms we enjoy in our great land. With respect to the Second Amendment to the Constitution, my position is that the right to self-defense is an unalienable right and it includes the right to possess firearms, a position confirmed by the United States Supreme Court in 2008.
Please note that the duties of the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office include preserving the peace and fairly enforcing the laws of the State of Texas. Executive orders from the President of the United States directed to members of the federal executive branch are not applicable to a Texas official.
May God bless and protect you, the State of Texas, and the United States of America.
Very truly yours,
Troy E. Nehls
Sheriff, Fort Bend County
.
I hardly know where to start, but start I will.
I guess I need to explain that unalienable is a term used by those who think Thomas Jefferson did not know how to spell crap properly.
And, self defense is neither an inalienable or unalienable right, nor does it even appear in the Bill of Rights. Self defense is statutory and there are many limits on that. For example, you do not have the right to use a firearm for self defense unless you believe deadly force is going to be used against you. If somebody half your size comes after you with a wet noodle, you cannot shoot them to defend yourself.
And … we put limits on many methods that people may chose to exercise self-defense. You can’t possess a switchblade knife, brass knuckles, or a sawed off shotgun. You can’t possess a nuclear weapon, even if it’s just a small little tiny tactical one. I don’t think you can possess a flame thrower unless you are a circus performer or something, which our new sheriff may well be so I’ll leave that alone for now. Without a CLE, there are many regulations to possess even a handgun.
When Sheriff Law Professor talks about the United States Supreme Court in 2008, it’s clownishly apparent he hasn’t read the case he’s trotting out to ring 1 of this circus. In D.C. vs Heller, a 5 to 4 decision, even Justice Scalia argues …
Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.
Hummmm … that doesn’t sound inalienable to me. And Heller in no way says that you can’t place governmental restriction on firearms.
I guess our sheriff heard something on Rush Limbaugh about some case in 2008 and decided it said that we had a sacrosanct right to any weapon we want. Honey, that’s the clown leading the clown.
So now that we have filled two rings of this three ring press release circus, it’s time to move on to Mr. Nehl’s belief that “Executive orders from the President of the United States directed to members of the federal executive branch are not applicable to a Texas official.”
Well, I suspect that even the High Sheriff of Fort Damn Bend County will stand up when the President of the United States enters a room. And, if the FBI comes into my county and seizes a large stash of heavy artillery in the hands of a gun runner, I do not want my sheriff standing there defending the gun runners.
President Barack Obama is not trying to take away your guns. He is trying to keep assault weapons out of the hands of criminals and insane people. Well, and clowns. I forgot about the clowns part.
Sheriff, your argument would be a lot stronger if you could tell me how many shootings occurred in Fort Bend County over the past 5 years and how many of those were ruled self defense. If the second number outweigh the first number, you can take off your big ole clown shoes. If it doesn’t, you have to wear a big clown nose.
I am also wondering which ones of the 20 gazillion Executive Orders that George Bush issued would the sheriff not enforce? And when we have our next hurricane and the President issues emergency executive orders for my county will the sheriff meet them at the county line to stop them with a big clown nose?
The sheriff needs to stop playing politics and get to policing. People around here are already calling him Little Joe (Arpaio), and not in a good way.
On the upside, it’s Republicans talking – how did Bobby Jindal so gently put it? – stupid, that keeps getting Democrats elected President.
In Bexar County (San Antonio) a Republican woman with NO law enforcement experience got elected. She went to some short course and now wears a cowboy hat to prove she is the sheriff. Makes me feel sooooo safe.
1First, the executive orders issued by President Obama were not true executive orders but more of policy statements and the nomination of someone to head the ATF which has been without a Senate confirmed head for a very long time.
Second as Juanita Jean noted, the Fed. govt may regulate firearms including requiring background checks and restriction assault weapons. The SCOTUS has already ruled that it is okay to ban fully automatic weapons and machine guns.
Third, our new sheriff needs to look at the constitution including Article VI
2This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
I have a feeling that I will enjoy laughing at our new sheriff
Juanita
3I think you’re wrong on not wanting him standing there defying the FBI. If he does, he won’t be sheriff any longer. That’s a plus.
I’d love to see a saucer with little green people touch down in Fort Bend County, just to hear Troy start blathering on about what is, and what is not alienable rights. After he gets on the phone to that man of renown (what? you thought I said clown? no, no, no…) in Washington begging for some help.
4Seems that the more I read commentary from these nuts, that perhaps we do need some type of weapon around the house – to protect us from the likes of Sheriff Nehls. I’ve been a resident of this state for well over thirty-five years, and still cannot fathom thought processes that run through our society. When I am driving on a busy street, I find it rare that someone attempting to enter traffic has to wait more than a few seconds before some kind soul offers a space. When someone enters a building before me, almost always they will hold the door open until I enter. Kind, civil people are everywhere. How does a society like this have such animosity towards the president, and continue to elect folks like Nehls? The conundrum is very baffling.
5A fine commentary, Juanita. Texas is a big state with an inexhaustible supply of mind numbing characters who gravitate to positions of responsibility.
6Whatever the lord high shire reeve of the fair county of Fort Bend is infected with must be contagious. The Mississippi Legislature has a dose of it:
http://nmisscommentor.com/politics/house-bill-490-mississippis-bid-for-supremacy-in-the-area-of-legislative-silliness/
And I hear tell that penicillin won’t cure it!
7Blowhards are born to blow hard. They do not disappoint. Ever.
8It’s time to start throwing these yahoos in court for treason. They must, however foot the bill personally for their defense, not at the tax-payers’ expense.
9Unfortunately my home state can’t go forward because they are stuck in the past – firmly entrenched in hate and gumbo mud.
10I’m glad you have enough lawyers on staff (and in the family) to provide cogent explanations and pithy quotes regarding Supreme Court decisions like this one. Here in Pennsyltucky, the clingers to guns and religion are frothing at their collective mouth.
11Mr. Nehls certainly is uncorrigible and discomplete in his legal research. In short, he is uncorrect. I wonder if he is also promising not to enforce disportation of unlegal dealien people. His decision is undicative of that train of thought.
12Odds are that the ones spluttering and saying they’ll refuse to do anything Obama tells them to are the same ones who were spouting during the last administration that disagreeing with the President was treason. In neither case have they bothered to read the Constitution.
13I had so hoped that when the election was over, the republicans would slither back under whatever rocks they had crawled out from under last year. But it was not to be. The religious right, abortion , guns, and the pesky poor are still fueling their “stoopidity”.
14Or maybe the rocks had had enough and just rolled away.
I am still not missing the stubby cowboy that he beat in the primary …….
15Neither am I, John Peter, neither am I. I’m just wishing we could find a sheriff who could sheriff and not politic or strut.
16The person pretending to be our sheriff here in Montgomery County just issued a very similar letter… he’s obviously pretending because real Law Enforcement Officers know that its not their job to decide which laws they approve of and will enforce.. suppose our sheriff is an alcoholic and decides to stop enforcing DUI laws…. these guys should be removed immediately.. they are a danger to their communities and in case they have forgotten – we are a nation governed by laws… not ruled by men.
17The nuts in Texas just keep on bewildering me, and I lived there for 30 years. If it’s any consolation for you who are “left behind,” Arkansas ain’t much better.
18