“They’re taking up a fight against me on something the Legislature has to do, and they think I have the authority not to follow the law. I do oppose this law. However, it’s my not my job to oppose a law; my job is to enforce the law.” That’s the position of Humboldt County Nevada Sheriff Mike Allen as quoted by the Nevada Independent.
That stance isn’t going over well with the locals. Earlier this month, Humboldt County commissioners unanimously declared the county a Second Amendment sanctuary.
But at recent town hall and County Commission meetings, Sheriff Allen didn’t exactly reassure residents about how he’d enforce the law.
Allen said reports that he said he would ‘seize guns out of their homes when they weren’t home,’ took his words out of context.
“What the questioning was is, ‘[Do] you get a SWAT team to go into the house?’ We do whatever we do to make it as safe as possible. And if what’s as safe as possible is to wait for that individual to leave the house, then that’s what we’ll do,” Allen said. “Most of the time there will be other laws that we’ll be able to apply.”
That prompted a group led by gun shop owner Dawn Principe to launch the recall effort. According to the Nevada Independent report, they intend to file a notice with the county on Thursday. They would then have 90 days to get the 502 signatures necessary to move forward.
And the group isn’t only targeting the sheriff.
As they collect signatures, Principe says the Humboldt recall group members have been working with Stand Up Nevada, which plans to file to recall Gov. Steve Sisolak for his support of the new gun legislation. The group also is working with Nevadans Citizen Action Network, which is raising money to get an injunction to stop AB291— the bill that includes the red flag provisions and bans accessories such as high-capacity magazines and bump stocks.
Allen says he is at a loss as how to sufficiently address Humboldt County residents’ concerns, and that he has spoken with Attorney General Aaron Ford and sent two requests this month to schedule a meeting with the governor on how to best enforce the laws, but has not heard back.