Virginia sheriff vows to deputize residents in response to Democrats' gun legislation
The sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia says he will deputize his residents if Democrat state lawmakers pass their gun control plan.
A Virginia sheriff is vowing to take matters into his own hands and deputize residents if the state's Democratic lawmakers pass strict gun control legislation.
“They will be properly vetted through a normal process. Everything from normal background checks that we do for other deputy sheriffs as well as psych [evaluations]. It’s not just a blanket policy of swearing-in anyone who is interested,” Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday.
Jenkins made the vow during a Board of Supervisors meeting last week in which the panel unanimously agreed to declare the county a "Second Amendment Constitutional County."
“Every Sheriff and Commonwealth Attorney in Virginia will see the consequences if our General Assembly passes further unnecessary gun restrictions,” Jenkins wrote on Facebook before the meeting.
A number of counties in the state have passed similar resolutions in response to expected gun control legislation. Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam has said his party will push for gun control measures since it regained control of the Virginia General Assembly.
In July, he called a special legislative session in the then-Republican-led legislature to address gun violence following a mass shooting in Virginia Beach that ended with 12 people dead. However, the meeting was adjourned after two hours without any action taken.
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Jenkins said that the current deputies and auxiliaries have to volunteer eight hours or more a month.
"They do have to attend certain training and so forth. There’s a lot of different duties we have them perform at no charge to the community that they are a big asset to us. The current auxiliary force we have is over a dozen," Jenkins said, calling the proposals from state lawmakers "overreaching."
"We are looking, if need be to grow that by a thousand."
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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