By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Village Board’s Public Safety Committee has tabled the second amendment sanctuary resolution until September 13.
Colfax Police Chief William Anderson said he did not understand the purpose of the second amendment resolution since the Wisconsin Assembly and the Wisconsin Senate have already passed legislation to make Wisconsin a second amendment sanctuary state.
“Is there any point in making (Colfax) a sanctuary village?” Police Chief Anderson said at the public safety committee’s June 28 meeting.
The public safety committee met prior to the regular meeting of the Colfax Village Board at 7 p.m.
The second amendment resolution was the only item on the agenda.
A variety of case law exists that state law cannot supersede federal law, and municipal law also could not supersede federal law, Police Chief Anderson said.
The proposed resolution states that any legislation proposed by the Wisconsin Legislature that would infringe on the right to keep and bear arms would be a violation of the United States Constitution and the Wisconsin Constitution.
The legislation proposed by the state Legislature would prevent federal gun laws from being enforced in the state and would not allow laws to be enforced that put any restrictions on the sale of guns or ammunition or that would require weapons to be seized.
Before the legislation approved by the Wisconsin Assembly and the Wisconsin Senate could go into effect, it would have to be signed into law by Governor Tony Evers.
If Governor Evers vetoes the proposed legislation, the governor’s veto can be overturned by a two-thirds vote in the state Assembly and in the Senate.
The Wisconsin Senate has 21 Republicans and 12 Democrats, and a two-thirds majority to overturn a veto would be 22 votes.
The Wisconsin Assembly has 60 Republicans, 38 Democrats and one vacancy. A two-thirds majority to override a veto would be 65 votes.
The state of Missouri proposed similar second amendment legislation, which was signed into law earlier in June. The United States Department of Justice has sent a letter warning Missouri officials that the state cannot ignore federal law, according to news reports by the Associated Press.
Backbone
Jeff Prince, village trustee and a member of the public safety committee, said he was “all for the constitution and the second amendment” because the constitution “is the backbone of this country.”
All of the village board members and the police chief took an oath to uphold the constitution and state law, he said.
Village ordinances, county ordinances and state law — nothing can supersede the constitution, Prince said, adding, “we can’t alter anything.”
The village’s ordinances are adopted according to state law, Police Chief Anderson noted.
As village board members “we have to follow the constitution. We are sworn under oath to uphold the constitution,” Prince said.
Police Chief Anderson said he understood the reasoning behind people asking for the village board to approve the resolution but that the resolution “is useless.”
Prince said one of his concerns is that if someone new moves into the village, becomes aware of the resolution and then thinks he can shoot a firearm inside the village limits, but the village ordinances prohibit the discharge of firearms within the village limits.
Paper
“It’s a piece of paper. It means nothing,” said Jody Albricht, village president and also a member of the public safety committee.
The village board members swore an oath to uphold the constitution, he said.
“It’s a piece of paper that won’t change anything,” Albricht said.
If a police officer is not upholding the constitution, then that police officer is in trouble, Prince said.
In addition to objecting to gun legislation, the resolution also states that the police chief can decide which laws are unconstitutional and can then decide not to enforce those laws.
Police Chief Anderson said he “would like to see where it goes on the state level.”
The resolution has already been given to the village’s attorney and the county’s corporation counsel, and significant changes would have to be made to the document, Prince said.
The public safety committee can either wait to see what happens at the state level or modify the resolution according to the attorney’s suggestions, said Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer.
Niggemann said she did not want to draft the resolution herself and believed that it should be completed by the village’s attorneys.
The wording of the resolution should be handled by an attorney, Prince said.
In its current form, the attorneys say the wording of the resolution is too vague, Niggemann said.
The constitution can be not upheld in “all sorts of ways,” such as executive orders or by not allocating funding, said Logan Michels, village resident and a former village board member.
Michels attended the public safety committee meeting in support of the proposed resolution.
Just because the constitution exists, rights are being chipped away by lack of funding or other means, he said.
Michels said he would like to see the village reinforce or support the county sheriff or the police chief to allocate resources to activities or laws “he deems constitutional.”
All amendments
Prince said he is supportive of the second amendment, and in fact, is supportive of all of the amendments to the United States Constitution.
If there were any other issues regarding the constitution or any of the amendments, Prince said he hoped “there would be the same push” as there has been for the second amendment resolution.
“Nothing has happened” to change the second amendment, Albricht said.
“To make a decision on something that has not happened yet would be unwise,” he said.
Albricht also said he believed it was “redundant” to approve a resolution on something that village board members have taken an oath to uphold.
Albricht noted, too, that it us up to the courts to decide what is constitutional or not constitutional and that it is not up to the village board, the police chief or police officers to decide.
The public safety committee should wait to see what the state does, Police Chief Anderson said.
Prince said he was in favor of village’s attorney writing the resolution, but asking the attorney to write the resolution “will cost money.”
Spending money on a resolution that does not mean anything is not a good use of taxpayer money, especially when the village is already limited on funds and limited on what can be done to ignore laws, Albricht said.
If the second amendment sanctuary legislation is signed into law on the state level, then the Village of Colfax will have spent time and money “for nothing,” said Margaret Burcham, village trustee and chair of the public safety committee.
September
The Colfax Village Board’s Public Safety Committee unanimously approved a motion to table the second amendment resolution until September 13, which is the evening of the village board’s first regular meeting of the month.
Tabling the resolution will give more time for other municipalities to look at the resolution and to get more attorneys’ opinions, Niggemann said.
If the resolution is going to be a legal document, it should come through the attorney, Prince said.
The resolution could be shortened substantially to say the village supports the United States Constitution and the second amendment, Albricht said.
On the other hand, the proposed resolution would make Colfax a second amendment sanctuary, he said, adding that he was “not sure we want to do that.”
Tabling the resolution will allow time to research other communities, Police Chief Anderson said.
Liability is an issue, but the resolution does not have the force of law, and different attorneys will have different perspectives, Michels said.
“Do we want to get into it if it is passed statewide?” Burcham asked.
The resolution is not needed if the state passes the proposed legislation, Police Chief Anderson said.
Michels offered to gather the information from other communities concerning the second amendment resolution.
The resolution is a good representation of “the spirit of the second amendment, and what if the state does not pass it?” he said.
Michels and the group of people he is working with could do the research, gather copies of resolutions and obtain minutes stating why the resolution was approved or why it was not approved, Niggemann said.
The information could be put into a spreadsheet, “and when we get to September, there would be more information” available for the committee and the village board, she said.
Village board
During the village board meeting that followed at 7 p.m., members of the public safety committee reported they had tabled the second amendment resolution until the September 13 meeting.
Rich Jenson, a village resident in support of the resolution, provided a copy to Niggemann of a rebuttal from the Wisconsin Sons of Liberty in response to the Dunn County Corporation Counsel’s opinion.
Jenson did not attend the public safety committee meeting.
A copy of the rebuttal was not provided to the Colfax Messenger.
