The city of Eagle, Idaho declared itself a Second Amendment sanctuary city on September 8, 2020. By passing this resolution, Eagle became the second city in Idaho’s Treasure Valley to do so. The other was Star, which passed its resolution in July.
The Eagle City Council unanimously passed the resolution, which was received with great applause from constituents attending the meeting on September 8.
The city’s status as a “sanctuary” is symbolic for the most part. In Eagle’s sanctuary resolution, it declared that the city would be against gun control that would “infringe upon the rights of people to keep and bear arms.”
During the last few years, Idaho has relaxed its gun laws. For example, the state dropped the age which lawful residents can carry concealed weapons from 21 to 18 in 2019.
Eagle resident Brian Almon, a former Washington resident, emphasized the importance of taking a stand against gun control.
“The time to make a statement about where we stand is now, not when things have changed and the laws are infringing upon those rights,” Almon said at the meeting on September 8.
Sanctuary policies originally started out with the Left and their efforts to defy national immigration law. Now, that logic has been flipped on its head with Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions being used by right wing organizations to fight against potential gun control encroachments.
With leftist radicalism gaining traction across the nation since the death of George Floyd, Second Amendment organizations have been motivated to move forward with sanctuary efforts to counteract this growing leftist advancement.
Eagle’s resolution indicates its resolute support for the Eagle Police Department and its “discretion to not enforce against any citizen any unconstitutional laws.”
However, not everyone attending the meeting supported the measure. “Polarizing issues have no place in local government resolutions,” Rob Van Arnem said before the council.
By contrast, Jim Rewald, a former law enforcement officer now living in Eagle, was in support of the measure.
“This helps protect the citizens of Eagle. Not just protect them physically but protect their constitutional rights,” Rewald declared.
Idaho is one of the most pro-gun states in the country. According to a ranking by Guns & Ammo magazine, Idaho is ranked in an impressive second place for states that respect the right to bear arms.
In the new political environment we live in, Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions and similar efforts to decentralize political power in America will have to be used by liberty conservatives in order to effect political change.
The game has changed and we must be ready to adapt.
