Three years ago, the Houghton County Board of Commissioners debated and ultimately voted 3 to 2 against a Second Amendment Sanctuary County resolution.  At its meeting on April 11, the board considered a new, revised resolution and passed it 4 to 1. 

The new resolution does not mention the words “sanctuary county.” 

The new resolution affirms support of “all constitutional rights, including, but not limited to, the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” It also calls for adequate funding of mental health services. 

On the surface, it sounds reasonable and positive. But in fact, as several members of the public who packed the Circuit Courtroom Tuesday pointed out, its intent is to give the sheriff and other law enforcement officers the discretion not to enforce the new state gun control laws recently passed by the Legislature. The section on funding mental health services includes language that essentially guarantees that people with mental health issues will still have access to guns. 

Sheriff Josh Saaranen is an outspoken advocate of the need for more and better mental health services, but he does not support ensuring mental health patients access to guns.

“I have no problem giving my opinion that, yes, we need to keep firearms out of the hands of not only dangerous felons, but adjudicated mentally ill persons, both of whom should be provided due process,” he said in an email.

Saaranen describes himself as a constitutional sheriff. Constitutional sheriffs say that they are the supreme legal authority with the power and duty to defy or disregard laws they regard as unconstitutional.

Saaranen had this to say about law enforcement discretion in enforcing laws: “As your sheriff, I am constitutionally charged to enforce the laws of the State of Michigan. Law enforcement, however, has long been allowed discretion. Discretion is used daily by all our deputies and local constabularies. This sound discretion will be used on the enforcement of any law as to not only protect the public, but also protect the rights of all citizens as guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Michigan. As sheriff, I will enforce state law and protect every community member's inalienable constitutional rights to the best of my ability.” 

Three issues emerged from a contentious, hour-long session of public comments before the county commission’s vote:

• Does the county government have the right not to enforce laws that it deems unconstitutional?

• Does the sheriff have the discretion not to enforce laws that he believes are unconstitutional?

• Is the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms limited or unlimited?

Objections to the Resolution

“I am opposed to the county board taking a stand that our county law enforcement officers should make their own independent assessment of constitutionality,” said Faith Morrison, a professor emerita of chemical engineering at Michigan Technological University. “Our system in the United States is that the courts are the ones that determine constitutionality.” 

Morrison also urged the commissioners not to vote on the resolution at Tuesday’s meeting.

“The resolution was made available to the public only yesterday,” she said. “As is the usual practice of the board, time should be allowed for the citizens of Houghton County to hear the arguments for and against the proposal before the commissioners take a vote.

“What is constitutional or not is ultimately decided by the courts,” said Pete Ekstrom. “It should not be up to a law enforcement officer to decide.”

In response to the oft-cited claim that “guns don’t kill people; people kill people,” Ekstrom said, “It’s people with guns in their hands who kill people. The Second Amendment doesn’t guarantee the right to kill.”

Houghton City Councilman Craig Waddell said, “I am a gun owner, and I support common-sense gun control. But Second Amendment rights are not unlimited.”

Even Justice Scalia, the late conservative Supreme Court Justice, has stated that neither first nor Second Amendment rights are unlimited, Waddell pointed out.

“I think this resolution also puts the sheriff in a potentially awkward position,” Waddell said. “The Michigan constitution gives the governor the power to remove a sheriff who refuses to enforce state or federal law.”

Others spoke passionately about the danger of guns. “If a gun is present, someone is much more likely to use it,” said Joan Chadde.  “You have guns; you have deaths.”

“Why aren’t the people who want guns at the forefront of efforts to ensure gun safety?” asked Donna Cole. 

“I support sensible gun safety laws,” said Janeen Stephenson. “We are all safer when gun safety laws are enforced.”

Support for the Resolution

“Our constitutional rights need to be protected and affirmed,” said Brian Mason, pastor of the North Star Baptist Church. Mason spoke on behalf of the citizens who presented the resolution. “We are asking our commissioners to confirm their support for the Constitution. We singled out the Second Amendment because that is the one that is being politicized.”

Dan Holcomb, one of the co-authors of the resolution, said his concern is “unlawful gun laws that only serve a political agenda and punish lawful gun owners.”

Holcomb said, “We firmly believe that if the Second Amendment is infringed, it will set a dangerous precedent that will undermine the rest of our constitutional rights, including, but not limited, to our first and fourth amendment rights.”  

Holcomb is former chair of the Houghton County Republican Party. He has twice run unsuccessfully for a Houghton County Commission seat. The local Republican Party helped draft the resolution, said Mason. 

“If the new laws are enforced, it would make it illegal to defend yourself in your own home,” said one supporter of the resolution.

“We have a right to defend ourselves,” said another. “What good is a gun if it’s locked away when someone breaks into your house?”

County Commission Response

Commissioner Gretchen Janssen, who cast the only no vote on the resolution, rebuked the resolution’s supporters, saying: “I don’t appreciate your implication that I don’t support the Constitution if I don’t support this resolution.” 

Glenn Anderson focused on the mental health provision. Anderson, who is advocating for 24-hour walk-in mental health services, called the proposal “a more common-sense resolution that includes mental health.”

He also pointed out that 80% of households in Houghton County have guns. 

Saying that he was changing his previous no vote to yes, Roy Britz noted that the “sanctuary county” language had been removed from this resolution.

However, he said, “the laws are the laws. The county board does not have the right to choose which laws it wants enforced. The sheriff has the responsibility to enforce the laws of the State of Michigan.”

Sheriff Saaranen urged both sides of the gun control issue to sit down together to figure out how to stop the scourge of gun violence.

“We need to come together and identify how to stop deranged perpetrators, specifically to protect our most valuable and vulnerable citizens, our children,” he said. “We should all come to the table and have an objective conversation on how best to do so. It is a multi-faceted challenge and not a single-issue fix. We all have arguments, opinions and insights, some of which are politically divisive, but we must have honest and civil discourse to be able to effectively address these complex problems.” 

New Gun Control Legislation

On Thursday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed two gun control bills recently passed by the Michigan Legislature. The new laws, which take effect next year, will expand background check requirements for firearm purchases and institute storage standards for guns kept in homes where children are present.

The same day, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a package of “red flag” bills that would allow individuals to ask a judge to confiscate firearms from persons believed to be a risk to themselves or others. The bills had already passed the Senate.

“When our leaders in Lansing actually listen to their constituents and survivors, this is what can happen: ground-breaking, historic legislation that will save lives by preventing school shootings, suicides, accidents, and daily gun violence,” said Madeline Johnson of No Future Without Today, an organization founded by student survivors of the 2021 Oxford school shooting.