Jan. 16, 2013

Dear Mr. President,

Last year, I was re-elected overwhelmingly to my second term as sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona. The citizens of Pinal County have placed their sacred trust into my hands and the hands of my office to keep them and their families safe.

Our nation has seen several tragic attacks against innocent adults and children by criminals armed with guns. Because of these attacks, many politicians including yourself have used these tragic events as a means to push their agenda related to “gun control.”

America has seen an even higher number of our citizens killed by impaired drivers involved in automobile collisions. Why are you not seeking to remove vehicles from our roadways? …. it’s because you realize it’s the drivers who are at fault and not the vehicle they were driving. This same analogy holds true with these shootings …. it’s not the gun that’s at fault but rather the criminals who use them. Do you honestly feel that any criminal or someone who is mentally ill will obey an executive order made by you related to “gun control”? Criminals get their name, because they don’t follow our laws already Mr. President.

I have sworn a solemn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America when I was first sworn in as an Army private, later as an Army officer, then as a police officer and now twice as the constitutionally elected sheriff. You, too, Mr. President have taken the same oath, therefore I am gravely alarmed – just as most Americans are that you would attempt to circumvent the Constitution of the United States.

The most important office in our Republic is that of a private citizen. You are not a dictator or a king who can act unilaterally and ignore our legislative process of law-making. All elected leaders are empowered as a trustee of the people we are elected to serve. We are given designated and limited powers. Your actions and quest for unconstitutional power threatens the future of our sacred Republic and the Liberty we all hold so dear.

Your own administration during, “Operation Fast and Furious” facilitated and approved the transfer of over 2,000 weapons to the Mexican Drug Cartels who the Mexican government is at war against and over 60,000 people have been killed. Those same weapons have made their way back into the United States and have been used to kill and injure our citizens and members of law enforcement, yet now you threaten to use an executive order to take away the 2nd Amendment rights of our citizens?

Mr. President, if you attempt to carry through with your proposal, it will hinder the ability of good citizens to defend and protect themselves and others against those who wish to cause them harm through the use of deadly force. Your actions would turn many good citizens, who wish to maintain their God given Constitutional Rights to bear arms, into criminals.

I am writing you this letter today to inform you that any “law” or regulation created by an executive order of your office that is contrary to what the Constitution of the United States of America says, shall be deemed as unlawful and shall not be carried out by myself or my office.

Former President Ronald Reagan said it best, “The right of the citizen to keep and bear arms must not be infringed if liberty in America is to survive.”

With grave concern,

Paul Babeu, sheriff
Pinal County, Arizona