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Surge of sheriff groups opposed to Obama gun control rises to 11

February 14, 2013 | 7:04 pm | Modified: February 14, 2013 at 7:10 pm
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In less than four weeks since President Obama proposed sweeping new gun control laws and a ban on assault-style weapons, the backlash from law enforcement groups that strongly support the Second Amendment has surged and now there are 11 state sheriffs associations opposed to the president.

The Illinois and Montana Sheriffs Associations became the last to join the growing crowd of police opposed to Obama, arguing this week that the president and state legislatures should instead be focused on mental health, not gun hardware.

"Sheriffs from across the state of Illinois believe that it is their responsibility and duty to uphold the Constitution including the Second Amendment. Rational law abiding citizens are not the cause of random acts of horrific violence in our communities. The focus should be primarily on

the lack of mental health services in our country," the group just announced.

Similar statements have been issued by the sheriff associations of Utah, Florida, Georgia, New York, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Wyoming and Indiana.

What's more, some individual sheriffs, police chiefs and local governments around the country have balked at Obama's outreach to warn against gun control that would take semi-automatic weapons out of the hands of people who need them for home and self defense.

The latest to join that group was Kentucky's Boone County which adopted a resolution that read, "Neither the federal government nor any individual in the federal government has the right to dictate to any of the various states, counties or municipalities in the United States, any mandate, regulation or administrative rule that violates the Constitution of the United States or its various amendments. "

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