The Oregon sheriff who is leading the investigation into the recent shooting at Umpqua Community College has made it clear that he doesn’t trust the federal government to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights, and apparently the Brady Campaign believes that should disqualify him from being sheriff.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin has been irritating the gun-grabbing left since he posted a letter addressed to Vice President Joe Biden on the department’s official Facebook page in 2013, following the Sandy Hook shooting. In the letter, Hanlin explained that he would not allow any unconstitutional gun laws to be enforced in his county.

Warning Biden that “gun control is NOT the answer to preventing heinous crimes,” Hanlin described attempts to push gun control in the wake of mass shootings as an “irresponsible and an indisputable insult to the American people.”

Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, apparently believes pro-gun attitudes should disqualify individuals from remaining as sheriff.

“We are calling on John Hanlin not only to be replaced as the lead investigator, but also to be immediately removed as sheriff,” Gross told reporters, according to the New York Times. “As sheriff, he has shown he has no qualms about putting his ideology over his responsibility to protect his citizens.”

In addition to taking issue with Hanlin’s pro-gun letter to Biden, Gross pointed to a Facebook post Hanlin shared about the school shooting in Sandy Hook days after the 2013 event.

Calling him a “conspiracy theorist,” Gross noted a controversial video Hanlin had posted on his personal Facebook page that alleged Sandy Hook might have been staged as a pretext for instituting gun control. Hanlin has since distanced himself from the video, and removed the 2013 post from his personal account.

The Brady Campaign’s attack on Hanlin is unsurprising, given the sheriff’s long history of fighting against anti-gun legislation in his official capacity as Sheriff. Earlier this year Hanlin even testified against a bill requiring “universal background checks,” arguing that such a law would be unenforceable and ineffective at preventing crime.

That bill was signed into law on May 11, and was in effect when the recent shooting took place at Umpqua Community College.

Hanlin’s possible conspiratorial views aside, in his official capacity as Sheriff he has demonstrated a staunch dedication to protecting the Constitutional rights of Douglas County citizens.

Unsurprisingly, the Brady Campaign seems to believe that kind of limited-government mindset should be a career ender.

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Michael Schaus

Michael Schaus is a talk radio host, political humorist, and columnist. Having worked in a wide range of industries (including construction, journalism, and financial services) his perspectives and world views are forged with a deep understanding of what it means to be an American entrepreneur.

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