Manatee County is Florida’s newest ‘Second Amendment Sanctuary.’ What does that mean?

The Manatee County Commission voted Tuesday to become Florida’s latest Second Amendment Sanctuary.

A Second Amendment Sanctuary is a jurisdiction that has taken a stance against restrictions on gun ownership that come from state or federal laws. There are already more than 40 counties in Florida with similar policies.

According to County Attorney Bill Clague, the resolution declares the county’s support of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

“I would view it the same way as a very strongly worded legislative policy statement,” Clague said, comparing the resolution to situations where the board writes a letter in support of or against a bill working through the Florida Legislature.

County officials previously discussed adopting the policy in February. The board, made up of seven conservative Republicans, signaled that it would have no problem approving the resolution.

Commissioner Jason Bearden introduced the resolution during Tuesday’s public meeting, pulling quotes from the Bible, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson before calling on his colleagues to support the Second Amendment Sanctuary vote.

Manatee adopts pro-gun resolution

“I think it’s an important time for us to make this proclamation and approve this resolution that we will always protect the Second Amendment rights of the constituents of Manatee County,” Bearden said.

Virginia McCallum, a local volunteer lead for the Moms Demand Action anti-gun violence organization, pushed back on the proposal during public comment.

“To pass a resolution like this, to even consider a resolution like this, even though legally meaningless, sends the wrong message to people on all sides of this issue and to our community at large,” McCallum said. “If public safety is your concern, this resolution runs completely counter to that, and it is irresponsible to consider it, let alone approve it.”

According to the resolution, “Manatee County will take no action whatsoever to jeopardize, diminish or impair our residents’ Second Amendment rights and will legally defend against laws seeking in any way to jeopardize, diminish or impair such rights.”

While he supported the overall goal of the resolution, Commissioner George Kruse said that wording is hard to swallow. In a brief debate with Bearden, he said did not support using taxpayer dollars to support a legal battle against future gun laws at the state or federal level.

“It’s literally saying that we will legally defend against it. That means money. That means time. That means potentially using taxpayer funds to legally defend against a board’s position,” Kruse said.

“You have an obligation to protect the Constitution,” Bearden responded.

“I think you seriously misunderstand the role of a county commissioner when it comes to the Constitution,” Kruse told Bearden.

Commissioner Mike Rahn weighed in on the discussion to point out that Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody also uses state taxpayer dollars to fund lawsuits against the federal government.

“If my rights were being obstructed, I would hope my county government would do so also,” Rahn said.

The board voted 6-1 to approve the resolution, with Kruse voting against the measure.

Poll results: What do readers think?

In a recent poll of Bradenton Herald readers, the vast majority said they did not support Manatee County’s plan to become a gun sanctuary. Of the 657 people who responded, 79% or 519 people, said they were against the plan.

The results of this poll are not scientific. This interactive poll was only an attempt to gather the opinions of Bradenton Herald readers. As such, the results do not reflect the perspective of the entire community.