By Michael Piwowarski
BAY CITY – “I’m confused, mainly, as to why our resolution was amended or revised — altered.”
Bay City resident Padraic Ingle is one of the primary supporters of the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement, being an admin of the “Michigan for 2A Sanctuary Counties – Bay” Facebook group.
For the time being, Bay County will not be added to the list of Michigan counties becoming Second Amendment Sanctuaries.
A Second Amendment Sanctuary means that a local county or governance is reaffirming citizens’ rights to keep and bear arms, as detailed in the constitutional amendment. The resolution exists to prohibit the enforcement of gun control measures which are seen as an infringement of that right.
Supporters of the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement argue that this is an effective way to resist “red flag” legislation being passed in other states.
The Bay County board of commissioners were to vote on making the county a Second Amendment Sanctuary Tuesday, Feb. 11. However, they passed a revised version of that resolution, reaffirming support for the U.S. and state constitutions and all amendments.
The new resolution envelopes the entire U.S. and state constitutions and all of their amendments, even removing the word “sanctuary” while maintaining the spirit of reaffirming constitutional rights.
The revised resolution passed 6 to 1, with commissioner Michael Duranczyk being the sole “no” vote. Duranczyk supports the original, unaltered resolution.
Just weeks ago, the Bay County board of commissioners heard public comment from supporters of the Second Amendment, who rallied for a resolution to be passed making Bay County into a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
Supporters “angry and confused”
“There was no correspondence from a majority of the commissioners,” Ingle said about the altered resolution. “We had one commissioner [Michael Duranczyk] reach back out to us, but the rest of them wouldn’t respond to my emails asking if they had any concerns or questions about our resolution as we submitted it.”
Ingle, along with other Bay County citizens, came to the Feb. 11 meeting to voice his concerns about the new resolution. He and other Second Amendment Sanctuary supporters wanted the commissioners to bring the original resolution up for vote, which they did not.
Some individuals expressed support for the revised resolution, saying that everybody supports the Second Amendment and that support of a sanctuary for specifically that amendment, is a “fear tactic.”
“They’re mistaken,” says Ingle. “A lot of their narrative was flawed, incoherent, saying things like we were obviously well funded or something like that. We’re not being paid to do this.”
Ingle went on to call “Michigan for 2A Sanctuary Counties” a “grassroots movement” created by a group of concerned, law-abiding citizens.
“I think it was obvious that one or more influential commissioners took an issue with our resolution,” says Ingle. “And they don’t want to see Bay County [as] a second amendment sanctuary. And they don’t want to offer their support to the sheriff’s department to not enforce against any citizen any unconstitutional firearms law.”
Earl Lackie, Republican candidate for Michigan’s 5th congressional district, says that the commissioners changed the wording of the resolution out of “fear.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of here,” says Lackie. “All we’re asking them to do is stand up to their oath and not follow through on unconstitutional firearms laws.”
In Lackie’s rebuttal toward supporters of the new resolution, he cited Virginia’s recent passing of “red flag laws” and fears that the same thing can happen in Michigan.
“You can call them ‘red flag’ laws if you like,” says Lackie. “But if you go into somebody’s house and you confiscate their weapon just because somebody made an accusation – accusations have ruined more reputations than I care to count. This is unacceptable. We’ve got to stop this practice.”
Lapeer, Mackinac and other counties become sanctuaries
The Second Amendment Sanctuary movement has already been successful in eight other Michigan counties. MLive.com reported Feb. 5 that Lapeer County’s board of commissioners voted to become a sanctuary, with a somewhat divisive 4-2 vote.
Other counties that followed suit include Mackinac, Cheboygan, Kalkaska, Oscoda, Osceola, Presque Isle and Otsego.
Bay County sheriff Troy Cunningham, who recently announced a run for re-election, previously talked to the Collegiate and expressed support for the original resolution, saying it is symbolic and appropriate.
“I don’t think there have been any laws that are infringed upon yet,” says Cunningham. “That’s why I’m saying I think it’s kind of symbolic, a little bit, in nature […] I think a lot of this has to do with the red flag laws that people are looking into to say, ‘hey will they be opposed? Aren’t they gonna be?’”
As a sheriff, Cunningham says his job is to enforce laws that are put into place, not to make them.
“I think what they’re looking at is just kind of like what happened in Virginia and Washington where they’re saying, if you’re a law abiding citizen and you’re doing everything right, and you’re doing your background checks, and you’re doing the stuff that you’re supposed to, we just want to make sure that government doesn’t say that you can’t have guns anymore,” says Cunningham.
Bay County defends their decision
The new resolution, submitted by commissioner Michael Lutz, states that the original one which was proposed “exceeds Bay County’s authority to the extent it directs the activities of the Sheriff or Prosecutor.”
“We also reaffirm our oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America,” Lutz stated at the meeting. “We will, by our action, continue to support our Second Amendment rights. […] We do not have the power to tell the sheriff or the prosecuting attorney of Bay County how to do their job or selectively do their job. They took the same oath as we did.”
Lutz went on to emphasize his support of Second Amendment rights. The resolution itself indicates that “support of the Constitution of the United States includes all of its amendments including the Second Amendment thereto.”
“I have a concealed weapons permit; I’m a hunter,” Lutz said. “I have all sorts of guns. If we use them wisely, we’ll keep them. […] If we take care of our laws and follow our laws, we will maintain our rights.”
Sanctuary supporters will keep pushing
“We already know where they stand and we’re not gonna vote for them,” Ingle told the Collegiate.
Ingle and his fellow supporters are going to work to vote out the commissioners who supported the new resolution, saying they’ve “shown their hand” and clearly don’t support the original resolution.
However, the fight for making Bay County a Second Amendment Sanctuary will continue.
“We’re not done,” says Lackie. “We’re coming back and we’re going to reintroduce […] this resolution.”
Ingle says he intends to reach out to the commissioners one more time and give them an opportunity to explain their decision to support the new resolution.
“If one of these commissioners is in your district, as your district representative, this is how he feels about what we’re trying to do,” says Ingle.
Ingle has ruled out the possibility of running for a commissioner’s seat himself, but did speculate that some other individuals from the sanctuary movement might step forward.