According to Buffalo News:
It’s no secret Sheriff Timothy B. Howard is opposed to New York’s new gun-control law.
But Howard, who is running for re-election this year, is now ratcheting up his opposition by filing a friend of the court brief in the lawsuit seeking to overturn the SAFE Act and, even more important perhaps, by suggesting the law not be enforced.
“I’m more than reluctant,” he said of the new law Thursday. “I won’t enforce it.”
Howard, one of four sheriffs who joined in filing the brief this week, said he considers the law unconstitutional and a waste of valuable resources, and believes it will ultimately be overturned by the courts.
The law, passed in January, is the subject of a federal court challenge in Buffalo by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, and others. The suit claims the law violates an individual’s right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment.
“The Constitution is the law of the land,” Howard said. “If you know it’s a violation of the Constitution, how can you enforce it?”
The sheriff added (Via Niagara Falls Reporter):
“In every police officer’s oath of office, the very first thing we raise our hand to is we’re sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States,” said Sheriff Howard, explaining why he won’t enforce the SAFE Act. “Everything else comes after that. Any time there’s a debate between the state and the federal Constitution, we’ve been taught and how it should be, the Constitution prevails.”
You go, Sheriff!!!! We need more law enforcement officers like you! EVERY police academy in America should be required to teach a detailed block of instruction on the United States Constitution with a heavy concentration on the roles and restrictions of law enforcement officers and officials thereunder.