WND EXCLUSIVE
Sheriffs plan to put feds back in their place 'Restoring liberty in America is not only possible, but already underway'

Published: 05/24/2013 at 8:41 PM

Drew Zahn is a WND news editor who cut his journalist teeth as a
member of the award-winning staff of Leadership, Christianity Today's
professional journal for church leaders. A former pastor, he is the
editor of seven books, including Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked
his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND column, "Popcorn and a (world)view." Follow

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Sheriffs and peace officers from across the country will be meeting with like minded supporters
for a national convention focused on one goal: restoring constitutional rule in the United States of
America.
From May 31-June 1, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, or CSPOA, will
be meeting in St. Charles, Mo., for its Heartland of America Conference.

The purpose of the conference is to equip sheriffs, peace officers
and public officials with information and public support to carry out
their oaths of office – specifically, to uphold the U.S. Constitution –
recognizing that in the case of federal overreach, the county sheriff
may be the last line of defense in protecting Americans’ constitutional
rights.
“We are going to train and vette them all, state by state, to
understand and enforce the constitutionally protected rights of the
people they serve, with an emphasis on state sovereignty and local
autonomy,” explains CSPOA Founder and Executive Director Sheriff Richard
Mack. “Then these local governments will issue our new Declaration to
the Federal Government regarding the abuses that we will no longer
tolerate or accept. Said declaration will be enforced by our
Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers.
“In short,” Mack says, “the CSPOA will be the army to set our nation free.”
Mack is more than familiar with fighting federal overreach. The
former sheriff of Graham County, Ariz., in 1994 Mack joined six other
sheriffs in challenging a provision of the federal Brady Bill placing
the burden of its background checks on local sheriffs. The Supreme Court
ruled 5-4 to strike down the provision.
Police Chief Larry Kirk of Old Monroe, Mo., told WND, “In the past
few years we have seen many of the citizens of this country become
concerned over the direction it has taken. We have watched personal
rights being eroded and a disconnect developing between citizens and
officers working in law enforcement.
“I wanted to find other officers that shared my concerns,” he
continued. “I wanted to be able to work with our sheriffs and other
peace officers in educating the citizens and others in our career field
on the powers of the sheriff’s office and what is needed for us to stand
on guard to protect our rights and those of our fellow citizens. The
CSPOA is the organization at the front of this movement.
“The people of my state are seeing the overreach of government at the
federal level and want to know where their sheriffs will stand,” he
concluded. “The people of this state need to hear this message, and the
sheriffs of this state need to hear it. Sheriffs and officers need the
support of their communities, and we need to support them. This is the
organization that can help educate us all on the proper roles that we
should play and what we can do to stop the encroachment on our liberties
and unalienable rights.”
Sheriff Mack further told WND, “In view of the culture of corruption,
which seems so prevalent in Washington, many Americans are searching
for hope and solutions that are both effective and peaceful. The purpose
of the CSPOA convention is to offer absolute evidence that both indeed
exist. Each attendee will leave with this evidence and a renewed hope
that restoring liberty in America is not only possible, but already
underway!”
The convention, to be held at the Ameristar Hotel in St. Charles,
Mo., is free to all public officials and open to the public at large.
Register to attend the Heartland of America Conference at the CSPOA website now!
The trailer for a video featuring previous convention speakers can be seen below:



“We already have hundreds of police, sheriffs and other officials who
have expressed a desire to be a part of this holy cause of liberty,”
Mack explains.
In fact, CSPOA maintains a growing list of – at last count – 18 state sheriffs associations and over 450 sheriffs
across the country already taking a stand against what they perceive as
attempts by the Obama administration to enact unconstitutional
gun-control measures.
As WND reported,
Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is among those after telling
a local radio host the federal government is “going to have a problem”
if they expect him to confiscate guns from private citizens.
“I took [multiple] oaths of office, and they all say I will defend the Constitution of the United States,
” Arpaio told Mike Broomhead of KFYI Radio in Phoenix, Ariz.“
Now if they’re going to tell the sheriff that he’s going to go around
picking up guns from everybody, they’re going to have a problem. I may
not enforce that federal law.”
Broomhead pushed the man sometimes called “America’s toughest
sheriff” even further, asking Arpaio if the feds passed a law banning
ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, would his deputies
confiscate such magazines?
“No,” Arpaio said. “My deputies, I said before, I’m going to arm all
my deputies – a month ago I said before this – with automatic weapons
and semi-automatic weapons. We’re going to be able to fight back. … I
don’t care what they say from Washington.”
Larry Pratt, president of Gun Owners of America, told WND he supports
sheriffs taking a tough stand.
“The county sheriffs need to act and make new deputies to stop
federal authority in the counties,” Pratt said. “There is a
misconception in our time that the court somehow is the arbiter of what
is constitutional; that’s not true! Every official that raises their
right hand and says they’re going to adhere to the constitution, seek to
protect it to the best of their ability, ‘so help me God’ – that’s
something that they’re all obligated to do.”Read more at

http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/sheriffs-...f1CMCXrYveq.99