IRON MOUNTAIN — For the second time in three years, Dickinson County Board has resisted a proposal to establish a “Second Amendment Sanctuary County,” opting instead to pass a resolution in support of the people’s right to keep and bear arms.

The board’s new resolution relies on an opinion from its municipal counsel in Lansing, which said the county lacks the statutory authority to make such a declaration.

The board sought the opinion from attorney Timothy M. Perrone of Cohl, Stoker & Toskey, P.C., in response to a request from the Dickinson County Republican Committee. The DCRC’s proposed resolution was aimed at blocking enforcement of Michigan’s new safe storage laws, as well as “red flag laws,” or extreme risk protection orders.

After hearing 40 minutes of public comment both for and against a sanctuary declaration, Commissioner Barbara Kramer shared Perrone’s letter, stating gun safety laws “have the presumption of constitutionality until struck down by a court.” While it’s within the board’s discretion to notify legislators of opposition to laws it views as infringing on constitutional rights, it may not declare laws to be unconstitutional, Perrone said.

DCRC’s proposed resolution called upon the board to “not appropriate any funds for any enforcement of unconstitutional laws against the people of Dickinson County.” The board’s alternative resolution states its opposition to “the enactment and enforcement of laws that unconstitutionally infringe upon the people’s right to keep and bear arms.”

In either case, Perrone had advised the board its resolution would be “a political statement without legal effect.”

The board itself conducted little or no discussion on the merits or pitfalls of safe storage laws and extreme protection orders.

Several members of the Dickinson County Democratic Party spoke against a sanctuary declaration, with Judy Stock of Kingsford saying new gun safety measures are “common sense” and evidence-based. “The truth is, the Second Amendment is not under threat,” she said.

Angela Hall, acting chair of the Dickinson Republicans, said that if gun control laws work well, Chicago would be much a safer city rather than one experiencing an alarming rate of gun violence. Gun rights, she claimed are being “stripped little by little” and it’s “by design.”

Hall asked the board not to adopt an alternative resolution, saying it’s “the same” as what was already passed in February 2020.

At that time, gun rights advocates had crowded the circuit courtroom asking for a sanctuary declaration aimed at blocking enforcement of gun laws perceived to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The board, however, merely affirmed its support of the “right of people to keep and bear arms” and stated its “commitment and promise to support individual rights.”

Safe storage rules and universal background checks were signed into law in April by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. In May, Whitmer gave approval to a red flag law intended to keep firearms away from people at risk of harming themselves or others.

The new laws are expected to take effect in March.

The safe storage law requires gun owners to keep weapons locked or unloaded around minor children, but opponents say it makes weapons unavailable for self defense. During citizen’s time, Tina Pirlot of Norway pointed out enforcement would only occur if a minor gains access to a gun that should have been locked.

Extreme risk protection orders allow family members, police, mental health professionals, roommates and former dating partners to petition a judge to remove firearms from those they believe pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. The judge would have 24 hours to decide on a protection order after a request is filed. If granted, the judge would have 14 days to set a hearing during which the flagged person would have to prove they do not pose a significant risk. A standard order would last one year.

The DCRC argues red flag laws allow courts to temporarily take firearms away from people without due process.

Under the new law, anyone who petitions the court for an extreme protection order and knowingly makes a false statement is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail.

Commissioner Joe Stevens, who joined Chair Henry Wender and commissioners Kramer, Ann Martin and John Degenaer Jr. in adopting the alternative resolution, said the arguments heard Monday on both sides of the issue were compelling. It seemed, he added, that everyone attending the meeting supports the Second Amendment.