{"id":57206,"date":"2020-07-23T01:56:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T06:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=57206"},"modified":"2020-07-23T04:31:10","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T09:31:10","slug":"57206","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=57206","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Culpeper County sheriff recruiting volunteers in support of pro-gun agenda<\/a><\/p>\n

Culpeper Sheriff Scott Jenkins is advancing his vow from last year to swear in scores of auxiliary deputies to protect their gun rights in the face of potential new gun restrictions pending at the state level.<\/p>\n

The county\u2019s elected lawman is accepting applications through Sept. 30 for \u201cvolunteer background investigators\u201d to screen any future reserve deputies, according to a post Monday at the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page.<\/p>\n

The volunteer investigators must be current sworn, retired or former law enforcement officers able to perform background investigations and vet any forthcoming applicants, the post stated.<\/p>\n

The sheriff plans to recruit the volunteer deputies, \u201cIn preparation for the potential passage of unconstitutional gun restrictions that ban the ownership of \u2018assault weapons\u2019 and high capacity \u2018magazines\u2019 in the 2021 Virginia General Assembly session,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Sworn-in law enforcement officers would presumably be immune from any new gun restrictions.<\/p>\n

To apply, former and current law enforcement personnel interested in becoming a volunteer investigator with the sheriff\u2019s initiative can visit culpepersheriffsoffice.com and click “Volunteer Background Investigator Application.”<\/p>\n

Via Facebook, the sheriff said he is not accepting applications for the volunteer deputies he plans to amass, only for the background investigators to screen them after the outcome of next winter’s Virginia General Assembly session.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the many thousands of commitments already received from across Virginia to serve. Please continue to monitor our Facebook page and website for information about when those applications will be accepted,\u201d the sheriff wrote.<\/p>\n

In December, Jenkins spoke before a packed room of gun-rights supporters, and others, at the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors meeting in support of resolution declaring the locality a \u201cSecond Amendment Constitutional County.\u201d The supervisors unanimously adopted the resolution, which more than 100 other Virginia counties and cities adopted as part of the Republican-backed nationwide effort.<\/p>\n

The sheriff last year called gun ownership \u201ca God-given right.\u201d He said if the state legislature restricts certain weapons and ammunition, he would \u201cswear in thousands of auxiliary deputies in Culpeper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenkins said many county residents hold concealed-carry permits, including for guns with large-capacity ammunition magazines as are commonly used in school shootings with mass casualties. A ban on such weapons failed in this year\u2019s legislative session but will likely be introduced next year.<\/p>\n

Jenkins spoke before the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors again on the issue at its July 7 meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage the Culpeper Board of Supervisors and all Virginia localities supporting the Second Amendment to send a clear message to Richmond in the form of resolutions declaring that they will not exercise local authority under Virginia Code 15.2-915(E),\u201d Jenkins said of the code section limiting local authority over firearms.<\/p>\n

The code section states: \u201cNo locality shall adopt or enforce any ordinance, resolution, or motion \u2026 and no agent of such locality shall take any administrative action, governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof other than those expressly authorized by statute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor is calling a special session of the general assembly and further gun control will be a focus. Citizens should contact local and state representatives to have their voices heard,\u201d Jenkins stated.<\/p>\n

He went on, during the recent Board of Supervisors meeting: \u201cI\u2019ll say again, if the previous bill, or similar legislation, to ban so-called assault weapons and high capacity magazines is passed, I will swear in thousands of Reserve Deputy Sheriffs in Culpeper. My authority is not limited to swearing in only residents of Culpeper County and I intend to exercise my authority fully within my discretion to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Culpeper County Democratic Committee Chairman Jim Restel said on Tuesday that he’d heard about Jenkins\u2019 attempts \u201cto establish some sort of vetting process\u201d prior to deputizing thousands of civilians.<\/p>\n

Speaking for himself, Restel said, \u201cThat effort smacks of desperation\u201d and \u201cHis path is fraught with pitfalls\u201d\u2014one being financial.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would challenge him to say where the money is coming from for his quest,\u201d Restel said. Although volunteers are being sought, National Agency Check background checks cost money, the local party chairman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe insurance risks for his stunt will be a non-starter,\u201d Restel added. \u201cThousands of deputies would have to be insured by the county, unless he is going to make up a class of deputies. Again, personally, I think what Sheriff Jenkins is trying to do is a fool\u2019s errand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The courts and legislature \u201cwill stop his nonsense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff’s Office volunteer deputy program will not incur any cost to the taxpayer, a spokesman, Lt. Les Tyler, said Tuesday in an email to the Star-Exponent. All costs for background checks, identification cards and associated expenses will be paid by the volunteer deputies and donations, Tyler said.<\/p>\n

Since December, Jenkins further stated on Tuesday night, his office has received interest in donations and volunteering from thousands of people across the state and nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese thousands of new deputies will volunteer at least 100 hours annually in service to Culpeper,\u201d the sheriff said in a statement to the Star-Exponent.<\/p>\n

Jenkins said those services would not be limited just to his office, but could also assist with projects and fundraisers at local volunteer fire and rescue companies hit hard financially by the ongoing pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Culpeper County sheriff recruiting volunteers in support of pro-gun agenda Culpeper Sheriff Scott Jenkins is advancing his vow from last year to swear in scores of auxiliary deputies to protect their gun rights in the face of potential new gun restrictions pending at the state level. The county\u2019s elected lawman is accepting applications through Sept. … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,8,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-law-order","category-rkba","category-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57206"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57211,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57206\/revisions\/57211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}