Dear Editor,
I attended Rains County Commissioners Court on the June 13th to witness the outcome of the ill-fated Resolution to Protect and Defend the Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms, initiated by the people, torpedoed by Judge Wolfe, Commissioners Mike Willis, Patsy Marshall and Mike Godwin on May 23rd. It was up for consideration again after having been amended.
Gutted would be more like it. Angered by the Court’s rejection of the resolution as written, precious few showed up in support of the amended version.
In the previous session, the people were not given the opportunity to respond to the Court’s decision not to adopt the resolution as written because the floor was opened to the public at the beginning of court and the resolution was introduced near the end of court.
So, here are some comments from Rains and Wood County residents that I found in local news sources:
The following is an excerpt from an editorial appearing in the award-winning monthly newsletter, Sentinel (published in Wood County):
Rains County is just a stone’s throw from Wood County, but Rains has no stones. Rains Co. Commissioners Court passed a watered down Second Amendment Resolution. Gone were references to foundational documents, gone were directives to ignore Washington’s edicts. Most of Rains County politicians are just Democrats reupholstered to look like Republicans. Rains County residents worked hard and deserve better. — Editor, Terrell AaronSpeer, June 2013 edition
The following is a quote from an editorial entitled, “Wood County Supports 2nd Amendment While Rains County Falters” found in online news source, Rains County Today, May 24th directly following the Court’s decision not to pass the 2nd Amendment Resolution:
“The Wood County Commissioners Court enthusiastically and unequivocally supported and approved the resolution as submitted. The Rains County Commissioners Court, with the exception of Commissioner Sylvia Witt, couldn’t run and hide fast enough from the resolution.”-Editor Chuck Witt
The Winnsboro News went all out on coverage of what happened in Wood County Commissioners’ Court on June 7th, complete with colored pictures and excerpts from speeches made by Wood and Rains County residents:
Jerry Carlisle, Rains County resident, told the Wood County Commissioners Court, “The Rains County Commissioners Court did not approve of this resolution….they nitpicked this all to pieces. Without this resolution you can throw all the rest of our rights out the window such as freedom of speech and the 10th Amendment.”
The Wood County Democrat on page 5(a) picked up on Jerry’s displeasure as well. Editor Maggie Fraser wrote:
“One man, Jerry Carlisle from Rains County, disappointed in the local Commissioners Court’s decision not to adopt the resolution said, “Without the 2nd Amendment, we’re all doomed.”
And there’s plenty more material where that came from. But what is overlooked in all this is that the resolution that was eventually adopted in Rains County is not bad.
Commissioner Witt, who introduced the original resolution to the Court upon the urging of many of her constituents, added a section stating that the Court supports the Sheriff in the exercise of his constitutional authority especially as it pertains to the 2nd Amendment, which is absent in the 2nd Amendment Resolutions I have read thus far. With the Sheriff lies the true authority to withhold cooperation from agents acting beyond the scope of their powers.
In addition, Commissioner Willis added an appeal to Federal & State officials not to allow U.N influence to affect our right to bear arms which is timely mentioned as President Obama intends to sign the UN Arms Treaty in August.
Because this resolution was adopted in Rains the voice in Texas that refutes federal efforts to infringe upon our right to bear arms grows louder. Because it was adopted, more counties will be emboldened to act, and soon, the federal (and the State) government will no longer be able to ignore or suppress our voice.
Something worthwhile was accomplished. But I think the Judge and the Commissioners that hesitated to act may be sorry they did come election time.
Thresa Matthews
