Hanlin has been a vocal opponent of gun control measures: He wrote a letter in 2013 to Vice President Joe Biden, saying he wouldn’t enforce gun restrictions that he regarded as unconstitutional – but many other sheriffs, including Tim Mueller, then the sheriff in Linn County, did the same.
Advertisement
The Oregon sheriff who is leading the investigation into the recent shooting at Umpqua Community College has made it clear that he doesn’t trust the federal government to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights, and apparently the Brady Campaign believes that should disqualify him from being sheriff. “Watch, listen, and keep an open mind”.
When asked if stricter gun control laws are the answer to preventing tragedies such as the mass shooting in Roseburg that left nine people dead, Carolyn Kellim replied, “I think that’s the worst thing in the world they could do”.
On a related matter, Hanlin was attacked this week by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, an organization that called for the sheriff’s resignation because of what it termed his “extremist” views on gun rights.
On his work biography, the broad-shouldered lawman who once attended Umpqua Community College lists three interests: fishing, riding his Harley and hunting.
The post has been deleted and much of Hanlin’s account went private since the shooting, but the posting is saved in Internet archives. Colleen C said Hanlin “fought against universal background checks & gun sense laws”.
“What I fear most is that we are going to create criminals, and specifically felonious criminals, out of a few of our most ordinary, normal, law-abiding citizens”, he said. “We’re in Oregon; that’s what we do”. Several people in the crowd clapped and a woman shouted, “That’s my sheriff!”
And we understand Hanlin’s motivation in making his comments Thursday night, especially in the frenetic, emotional and horrifying hours after the shooting. “The victims of last week’s shooting and the entire community deserve a thorough investigation that will get to the bottom of this heinous crime – an investigation that must be grounded in facts and evidence, not myth and bias”.
Interviewed Friday morning on CNN’s “New Day”, Hanlin said gun control has “certainly got to be part of the discussion” but insisted it was inappropriate for him to air his opinions the day after the shooting.
Advertisement
As Hanlin walked away, someone shouted one: “Sheriff, why does this keep happening in America?”
