DEL NORTE— Starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, March 13, the Rio Grande County Board of County Commissioners kicked off their regularly scheduled meeting at the courthouse with the Pledge of Allegiance.
At 10:55 a.m., they marched to the annex building where dozens of citizens were already seated and others were unloading chairs from the racks for themselves. Although the commissioners did not explicitly repeat the Pledge of Allegiance with the crowd, that’s basically what the special seating was all about.
The commissioners passed a resolution designating Rio Grande County a “2nd Amendment Sanctuary” to join a growing list of counties passing similar resolutions objecting to HB19-1177, the “Red Flag” bill.
Before Chairperson Suzanne Bothell read the full text of the resolution, Rio Grande County Sheriff Don McDonald shared his thoughts about the U.S. Constitution.
“The first oath I took on that constitution was in 1970 when I went in the army,” McDonald said. “I’ve taken the oath ever since then, including when I took my first law enforcement job in 1990. I’m very strong on the constitution, the amendments and the Bill of Rights.”
The Rio Grande County resolution shared language with similar resolutions passed in more than a dozen rural Colorado counties. While the State, Veterans & Military Affairs Senate committee makes a final vote, other counties are adopting similar resolutions. On Tuesday, March 19, the Mineral County Board of County Commissioners made final edits to a similar statement before passing their “2nd Amendment preservation resolution.”
Making a statement or sending a message is one part of the statewide challenge to HB19-1177 from rural counties. Sheriffs have discussed other legal action as well, showing solidarity.
McDonald shared a story with the audience before the resolution passed.
“All the counties are pulling together,” McDonald said. “to uphold the citizens’ rights. And that’s where I stand. I’m going to tell you what one of my deputies told me last week. ‘If you don’t uphold it [the constitution], we’re quitting.’ No. You’re staying with me.”
Reassured, the crowd sat patiently while Chairman Bothell read the resolution. During the discussion phase of the process after Bothell recapped the pertinent amendments from the U.S. Constitution, Commissioner John Noffsker said he had trouble with the HB19-1177 and could add three more pages to the Rio Grande County resolution to demonstrate the unconstitutionality of the legislation.
After Bothell finished reading the resolution and announced, “Rio Grande County is now a 2nd Amendment sanctuary,” the crowd stood together and applauded the decision. Regardless of the state-level decision, the Rio Grande County Commissioners support Sheriff McDonald.
Meanwhile, the Mineral County Board of County Commissioners held extra sessions to craft wording for a similar resolution. Commissioners compared the Weld County and Dolores County resolutions, and they held a conference call with County Attorney Randy Nicholson earlier in the meeting to consider the legal ramifications of upholding or disregarding HB19-1177. As the bill awaits its fate in Denver, other counties are considering different reactions to the legislation.