The Village of South Jacksonville is declaring itself a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
On July 4th, Village Mayor Tyson Manker will be signing mayoral order 01-2021 declaring the sanctuary and as the order stands “prohibits the use of local taxpayer resources to confiscate firearms.” The signing of the order on July 4th will have State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer, Morgan County Sheriff Mike Carmody, Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputy and Murrayville Police Chief Derek Suttles, South Jacksonville Police Chief Eric Hansell, Village Trustees John Stewart and Mike Broaddus, and former retail gun store owner Tom Holmes on hand for what Manker has characterized as a “symbolic declaration” of protecting the U.S. Constitution’s 2nd Amendment.
The official signing of the executive order will take place at Holmes’ Military Surplus Outlet location on South Main. Holmes decided to close the gun sales portion of his business after the state passed new gun laws that tightened regulation on retail gun stores. Manker says the ending of Holmes’ gun retail business should have never happened: “Over-burdensome gun laws made it too restrictive for him to carry on business. If we don’t stand up to those types of activities that often come from the more progressive-minded wing of our government, then we are going to end up in a bad place. What happened to Mr. Holmes and his store should have never happened, and yet it did. Here in South Jacksonville, we are taking a stand for Second Amendment rights.”
The announcement of the event specifically mentions Holmes’ store which had to cease selling firearms last year after the Firearm Dealer License Certification Act became law. The law added both state and federal certification to have a firearm dealer’s license and required retail locations also had to have an electronic-based record system to keep track of inventory changes and sales as well as an alarm monitoring and video system to prevent thefts.
Manker says violence from major cities are starting to spill over into smaller communities and he wants the village’s citizens to be able to have their right to protect themselves in their own homes: “We see the major violence happening in the City of Chicago, which village residents realize isn’t that far away. We’ve seen spill-over effects from violence coming from larger cities into places like Springfield, Bloomington, etc. I want the people of South Jacksonville to know exactly where I stand on the issue, and that is with the Constitution and with the people. Henceforth, after the Fourth of July, our departments will be prohibited from using taxpayer resources from any type of gun confiscation measures that the state may or the federal government may try and push on the people. We are just not going to take part in it, and that’s what I’m making sure happens with my [executive] order.”
The Biden Administration announced Wednesday that the Justice Department will be going after gun dealers who fail to comply with federal gun license laws. The administration is also seeking to gain more funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to target gun trafficking and illegal gun sales.
Manker says the Biden Administration’s focus should be on foreign adversaries instead of taking citizens’ rights way: “Making regular activities of normal, American citizens criminal, that’s a problem. We are certainly at an important moment in our American history, but I can assure everyone, including the people of South Jacksonville, and including the federal government that here in South Jacksonville, we believe in the right to bear arms, and the local government will take active measures to protect those who live here, to protect their right to bear arms.”
The Second Amendment Sanctuary Mayoral Order event will take place rain or shine at Holmes’ store on South Main Street at 1PM on Sunday, July 4th.