4th of July Message From Sheriff Terry Maketa
Facebook post from El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa:
I hope everyone enjoyed a happy and safe 4th of July. Today, I had the honor to serve as the Grand Marshall of the Monument Parade. It was truly an honor and the support from the citizens lining the streets was unforgettable. I think this years' recognition of our Country's independence carries an even greater meaning. I feel as citizens, our rights have been attacked like never before at the state level and even more so at the Federal level. Our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has been viewed by those elected to serve as negotiable or even expendable. I for one will not stand by and watch quietly. Today, seeing the street lined with so many proud citizens confirmed that I don't stand alone. This week on July 1st, numerous new laws took effect. Some of those laws probably make sense, but many are attacks on law abiding citizens. The most glaring is the expanded background checks which extends far beyond the sale of a firearm to a private party. It specifically criminalizes law abiding citizens due to its over reaching and vague content. Additionally, it victimizes many of our Black Forest Fire survivors. The next law is the magazine ban, which its' proponents promise will reduce violent crime. Those of us who respect our Constitutional Rights know this is a BIG LIE, and when it does not produce those results they won't be held accountable. Studies by independent organizations have proven the previous bans have had no effect. This ban is even more abusive of our rights because it contains some key terms that I have previously mentioned. They are "continuous possession" and the "readily convertible"or "removable base plate'. Truth be told, the 15 round limit was nothing more than a swag with no evidence based data to support it. The terms I just mentioned were an underhanded attempt to build justification for a ban on all magazines according to one of the sponsors. This week, I read the Attorney General's guidance on enforcement of these laws and he basically defined continuous possession as the magazine remaining in the owners' view at shooting ranges or with a gunsmith, for example, and declared secured in the owners home as continuous possession. Sadly enough, it really left thousands of unanswered questions such as the fire survivor leaving their magazines and firearms at a friends home while they go through the long process of recovery and rebuilding, or the soldier deployed in defense of our freedoms to foreign countries who must leave the firearms with a friend or roommate. Even under the AG's "guidance" the high capacity magazine being stored for a fire survivor in their friends' safe can not lawfully be returned to owner as of JULY 1st. That is where innocent, law abiding citizens will be criminalized and victimized by their own State Government. The background check law even requires that a law enforcement agency must conduct an insta- check on each sworn officer prior to issuing an office issued firearms and each time a new one is issued. These are people that have been through an extensive background check prior to being hired, but these laws were so poorly written they did not include an exemption for law enforcement officers. Now we in public safety have another unfunded mandate and waste of tax payer dollars. Sheriff Smith has requested guidance from the Attorney General on this very topic, but keep in mind the AG can not make laws of fill in the blanks of poorly drafted garbage laws where incompetence is demonstrated. His opinion or guidance is not law, nor is it binding; it is only an opinion.
We also have the "domestic violence" gun law that was passed and is now the only law on the books that presumes guilty until proven innocent. By the way, most courts are not in compliance and have not been in compliance with it because they are struggling to make sense of it. As I have stated, a sexual child predator can prey on children, be caught in the act, arrested, post bond and not have their firearms removed by the courts until they have been granted due process. The misdemeanor domestic violence arrestee, who isn't even charged with any form of assault will be held without bond until seen by a Judge. A verbal conflict between two people involved in an intimate relationship which does not involve any assaultive behavior, will result in one party being charged with a misdemeanor and that party will be required by this law to relinquish all firearms and ammo. Oh, and if they have magazines greater that 15 rounds and relinquish those magazines they may not get them back without breaking the magazine ban law. That is how screwed up these laws are. I could go on and on with examples of how horrible this law is but I hope you get my point. To top it off, the verbiage used to describe the arrestee throughout this law is so convoluted and poorly written that the arrestee under the title "domestic violence" has to get a background check on himself even if his case, like more than 50% are, is dismissed. The governor knew this law was poorly written prior to signing it, and yet he sided with Bloomberg and Obama and betrayed the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of law abiding, responsible citizens. He showed his true dedication when he also signed into law a bill that made the use of felony drugs a misdemeanor. Maybe that's appropriate since use is very different than manufacturing or distribution. However, in this law which he approved, he gave the dangerous illegal drug dealers an out for a reduced sentence. If the dealer, who poisons our children, claims he is a user as well as a dealer then he or she gets special reductions in their sentence. Essentially, he gave them a gift loophole. He has made it clear after standing by Nathan Dunlap, releasing convicted felons prior to the lawful completion of their sentence, (which by the way at least two innocent people were murdered by suspects from that debacle), now gives drug dealers a loophole. Our governor has turned against those of us who are law abiding citizens. His legacy so far is an embarrassment that threatens the safety and quality of life of our citizens and children. Look at parole, Department of Corrections, and most recently the State Lab that was processing blood samples from DUI arrests. The facts paint a real clear picture and I hope the media looks at what his leader-less-ship and his comrades like Giron, Morse, Fields, Hudak and the sheep that blindly follow them are doing to this state and its people. We need change and it can not come fast enough. His back door deals and allowing sloppy legislation to become law is endangering our citizens and their rights and freedom while at the same time he caters to criminals. He is diminishing law enforcement's ability to keep our communities safe while attacking the God given rights of law abiding citizens.
Let us not forget, this is the same governor who called rural Coloradans backwards thinkers and declared his gun control efforts as a rural versus urban conflict. He then signed a bill into law that will saddle rural Coloradans with an unnecessary and government mandated utility increases of up to 35%. Do not forget, it was Senator Morse who sponsored this bill. Morse showed his true colors for how little he cares about struggling families with this law. The lack of common sense our governor has demonstrated shows he is the type to blame his pencil for a misspelled word and the car for a drunk driver.
We need to stop this runaway train and its disastrous cargo. As Mr. Herman Cain said so well, "We must first slow down the train before we can stop it. Then we must stop it before we can reverse it". It takes every vote of every citizen. I will continue to do my part as I have done and on July 10th I will be in Federal Court testifying to try to slow this train down and plea to the Court to consider an injunction against the background check law and the magazine ban law.
I can not stand by and let Colorado and its traditional values be destroyed for the political gains of those committed to destroying it. I care too much about Colorado, its residents and this Country.
Stay the course and remember they want us to go away quietly. They want our complaints and frustrations limited to our dining tables. They are counting on us to feel we cant make a difference and give up. We can not do that and failure is not an option. This is far too important and our actions are making history on so many fronts. Other states are counting on us to stand tall and so is that next generation. This is our time to take back what is rightfully ours. After all, we just celebrated another anniversary of our independence.
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Originally Posted by HoneyBadger
