Fact check: Do '60% of counties' refuse to enforce gun laws?
During an appearance on CNN, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said "60 percent of counties in this country are refusing to implement the nation's gun laws." PolitiFact checks his claim.
Posted — UpdatedThe suspect in a mass shooting at a LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, had previously made threats to use weapons, but local law enforcement did not pursue removing them under the state’s red flag law.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a prominent supporter of federal gun restrictions, called out El Paso County and other places with these resolutions during an interview about the nightclub shooting on CNN.
"The majority of counties in this country have declared that they are not going to enforce state and federal gun laws," Murphy said Nov. 27 on CNN’s "State of the Union." "They have decided that they are going to essentially refuse to implement laws that are on the books. That is a growing problem in this country. ….60 percent of counties in this country are refusing to implement the nation's gun laws."
We wanted to know more about these counties and fact-check whether Murphy’s statistic was accurate. The number refers to the percentage of counties that have sanctuary policies, and by that metric it checks out.
There is no universally understood definition of a so-called Second Amendment sanctuary, said Allison Anderman, senior counsel at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
These broad policies about upholding the Second Amendment vary in each city, county or state. Some resolutions state that the jurisdiction won’t spend money to enforce what their officials deem unconstitutional gun laws.
Some experts have said these resolutions are merely symbolic. But there is some evidence that Second Amendment sanctuary areas use the state’s red flag laws less than other jurisdictions.
Many Colorado counties passed sanctuary resolutions
Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., have red flag laws. They are a relatively new phenomenon, with Connecticut passing the first such law in 1999. Colorado’s law, which went into effect in 2020, allows law enforcement, family or household members to file a petition asking a court to take away gun rights from a person who poses a significant risk to themselves or others.
The term "sanctuary" borrows from the sanctuary city policies that restrict state or local police from assisting federal immigration officers. Bryan Kibler, the former top prosecutor in Effingham County, Illinois, has been credited with devising the idea for Second Amendment sanctuaries. (Kibler is now a judge.)
Research suggests sanctuary counties employ red flag laws less often than counties without these resolutions.
Second Amendment counties may create a chilling effect on filing petitions, they wrote, because people may incorrectly think the red flag laws are illegal.
One of the researchers, Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative director Emmy Betz, said more study is needed. Her work covered a small sample and only one year of data.
"There’s active research now trying to understand how resolutions (or other geographic differences) may influence police/prosecution prioritization, but I don’t think we have a firm answer on that question right now," Betz told PolitiFact.
"Most (Second Amendment) sanctuary resolutions are merely symbolic in nature and have no enforcement mechanisms contained within them," Fields told PolitiFact. "It is possible the existence of the resolutions are influencing police and prosecutor discretion in enforcing red flag laws. But it is equally possible that the resolutions themselves are merely reflections of a community already deeply skeptical about these types of firearms regulations, which may include police and prosecutors de-prioritizing their enforcement."
The newness of these sanctuary resolutions, combined with the pandemic’s potential effect on enforcement for a year and a half, means we have had very little time to assess the impact of these resolutions, Fields said.
Virginia Beach declared itself a sanctuary but still prosecutes gun crimes
We found other jurisdictions with sanctuary resolutions that still enforce gun laws.
Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle told PolitiFact that he strongly supports the Second Amendment but opposed the resolution. It wouldn’t affect law enforcement officials, he said, because they are guided by the U.S. Constitution, the Virginia Constitution and state laws.
"Courts have the obligation of interpreting the law, not the sheriff," said Stolle, a Republican, attorney and former state senator. "My job is to enforce the law."
In 2020, Virginia passed a red flag law. The Virginia Beach office of the commonwealth attorney told us that it has filed 27 red flag cases. And the police department regularly arrests people involved in gun crimes.
Some statewide resolutions suggest noncompliance with future laws.
"The White House and U.S. Congress have announced their intention to pursue measures that would infringe on the right to keep and bear arms," reads Nebraska's Second Amendment sanctuary proclamation. "Nebraska will stand up against federal overreach and attempts to regulate gun ownership."
Legal experts say counties can’t refuse to enforce laws
How do these resolutions hold up legally?
A county cannot refuse to enforce laws, and the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution requires that federal law take precedence over state and local law.
Brady: United Against Gun Violence, which works to reduce gun violence, says courts have yet to take up a case that would answer whether the symbolic policies have any legal standing.
PolitiFact ruling
Murphy said "60 percent of counties in this country are refusing to implement the nation's gun laws."
Murphy’s statistic reflects an Associated Press analysis that found 2,000 counties have passed "Second Amendment sanctuary" policies pledging to not enforce some gun restrictions passed by their states. This represents about 60% of the nation’s 3,000 counties.
But the resolutions do not necessarily mean that the jurisdiction doesn’t enforce gun laws — much less federal laws that take precedence over state and local laws. In some instances, counties with such resolutions are less likely to use the state’s red flag law. More research is warranted, experts say.
We rate this statement Half True.
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