By
Michael Curran
Amidst the necessary and numerous ways our Armed
Forces ensure freedom here in America by fighting tyranny abroad, it may be
forgotten, forsaken, neglected or even unknown, that the Sheriff in your county
has a constitutional responsibility to protect freedom and fight tyranny right
here at home.
Retired Sheriff Richard Mack articulates that
truth and the specific manner in which he fulfilled those duties in his most
recent book, The County Sheriff: 
America’s
Last Hope, and specifically in relation to his lawsuit that went all the
way to the U.S. Supreme Court which challenged the constitutionality of the
Brady Bill passed in 1994 and signed
into law by then President Bill Clinton.
In a recent phone conversation, Sheriff Mack
recounted the motivation behind the book, “The book is written to and for every
citizen, each police officer, every peace officer, and especially every sheriff
in America; that all of us come to the understanding that the sheriff indeed
has the authority, the power, and the duty to end ‘venal and oppressive
government.’ The
Briefly, Sheriff Mack established the ‘line
in the sand’ for his constituents back in 1994 as the Brady Bill mandate for county law enforcement officials amounted to
the following according to Mack, “This law literally forced each sheriff to
become a pawn for the Federal Government and to do their bidding to promote gun
control within our jurisdictions. Even more astounding was the fact that no
funds were allocated for us to do this work and the Brady Act contained a provision to arrest us if we failed to
comply. Wow! So here’s the U.S. Congress making an unconstitutional gun control
law, requiring a county official to enforce it and pay for it, and then
threatening to arrest him if he refuses! What a government!”
In retrospect for Sheriff Mack, the victory
declared in the majority opinion by U.S. Supreme Count Justice Scalia back on
June 27, 1997 has meaning in 2009 as it confirms (it did not confer for the 10th Amendment does such) the local
sheriff’s inherent constitutional right to be the last deterrent to an errant
Federal government, to be free from Federal compulsion and thus be as Mack
declares, “Sheriffs have the authority, the power, and the duty to be the
ultimate check and balance for the American citizenry in your county and to
defend them against all local and federal criminals.”
The Tenth
Amendment and the Oath to defend the
Constitution are the focuses of
Sheriff Mack these days. Since leaving
the Sheriff’s office of Graham County Arizona Mack “...lectures, give seminars
on constitutional issues relating to gun control, law enforcement, States’
rights, ‘the farce’ (otherwise known as the war on drugs), and the oath of
office. I have also been a consultant for lawyers, and people in general
helping them with cases of unlawful arrests and police misconduct. I have stood
for ‘the little guy’ against ‘big brother’ government.”
Mack’s written contributions towards those
aims are four other books, namely, The
Naked Spy, From My Cold Dead Fingers,
The Proper Role of Law Enforcement, and
Vicki, Sam and
What rights does the Constitution actually guarantee? Why is it important that we not
allow our means of self-defense to be taken from us? What are the dangers of
giving government too much power? What can we do to remain strong as
individuals and families, so that we can remain strong as a nation? How do we
win the war on illegal drugs? What can the sheriff do to protect us from all
enemies, both foreign and domestic? Providing answers to those questions will
continue to keep Sheriff Mack occupied and has brought a natural alliance with
Oath Keepers. (See article about Oath Keepers entitled All Active Military, Police and Firefighters: Become an Oath Keeper –
Now! in this issue of the MetroVoice.)
“My affiliation with Oath Keepers (see video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf2K4-BQYAI)
is a natural partnership (see interview at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLJgPuNAh60),”
Richard stated.
For further information, you may contact Sheriff
Mack at sheriffmack.com.
Michael Curran, MLitt.
