Flathead County Sheriff says gun worries overblown

Flathead County’s sheriff is departing from public statements by several of his peers around the state regarding possible federal gun legislation.

Five other county sheriffs have indicated that they will refuse to go along with any federal gun regulations passed by Congress or through executive action that infringe upon citizens’ Second Amendment rights.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry, however, says those sheriffs are jumping the gun.

“I think it’s perhaps premature to puff up our chests and start talking about things that will never come to pass,” Curry said.

Curry has read all of the 23 executive orders issued by President Barack Obama in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., that killed 26 — and Curry said none of them speak to taking away or limiting gun rights.

He also said that he does not see the potential for any such legislation, nor, to the best of his knowledge, has any been suggested.

“I understand where [the other sheriffs] are coming from and why they’re taking a hard line, but I think it’s important to not fall into any extremist attitude,” Curry said.

“While certainly I would never support removing guns from law-abiding citizens, no one, to my knowledge, has suggested that even could possibly occur.”

That hasn’t stopped public concern from overflowing into Curry’s voice mail.

“I’ve had a lot of phone calls from concerned citizens and I’ve attempted to ensure them all that no one’s going to show up at their house to take away their guns,” Curry said.

Elsewhere in the state, Powell County Sheriff Scott F. Howard says he won’t enforce any “unconstitutional” federal gun regulations, while Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman and Lake County Sheriff Jay Doyle say they would not participate if the federal government ordered the confiscation of certain guns.

“I was raised in a household where owning a gun for the purposes of providing for and the protection of yourself and your family was normal,” Doyle said. “As I grew older I came to appreciate our forefathers when they sat down to write what ultimately became the Constitution of the United States. The right of the people to keep and bear arms is sacred to me.”

Doyle said that his office would not only decline to support or enforce any type of seizure of firearms from law abiding citizens, but that he would not condone “outside agencies coming into our county to do the same.”

Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummell and Wibaux County Sheriff Darby Harrington have signed an email sent to sheriffs statewide urging them to refuse to enforce or to permit the enforcement of any new federal gun regulations.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.