The sheriffs of three southern California counties—Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino—are voicing their opposition to the Golden State’s relentless barrage of new anti-gun laws, the Press Enterprise reports.
As Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff wrote, “Many proposed firearms control bills are very poorly thought out, hastily drafted without appropriate expert input, and incorrectly proffered to the public as ‘making things safer’ in our communities. In some cases, these proposed bills actually make our communities less safe, and remove inherent rights of our citizens to self-defense, or worse, allow only the wealthy, elite or the well-off to protect themselves.”
Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown signed six new anti-gun bills into law this year, at least two of which were formally opposed by the California State Sheriff’s Association. As Sheriff Sniff put it, law enforcement officers “are more endangered these days in California by a criminal justice system that no longer penalizes those violating our laws.”