Photo by Deb Gau Lyon County Commissioner Steve Ritter said the Second Amendment sanctuary resolution was a conversation he thought the county should have.

MARSHALL — Lyon County commissioners didn’t act on a proposed resolution to declare the county a “Second Amendment sanctuary.” However, Commissioner Steve Ritter said, it was a conversation he thought the county needed to have.

“I just wanted to take a look at it,” Ritter said, especially after several northwestern Minnesota counties have already passed similar resolutions over the past month. So far, commissioners in Clearwater, Marshall, Red Lake, Roseau and Wadena counties have all voted to declare their counties as “Second Amendment sanctuaries” to support gun rights for their citizens.

In the discussion at Tuesday’s county board meeting, Lyon County Attorney Rick Maes said he thought passing a Second Amendment sanctuary resolution would be more of a symbolic gesture than an enforceable action by the county.

“It would have no legal effect,” Maes said.

Tuesday’s county board materials included a draft of a Second Amendment sanctuary resolution, with blanks to put in the governing body making the resolution, and their unit of government. Besides expressing support to uphold the right to bear arms and declaring a “Second Amendment sanctuary,” the draft resolution included terms that the governing body would refuse to give local resources to enforce “any mandate, law, policy, order or any other directive which infringes on the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.”

The sample draft also said the governing body would use “any legal means,” including court action, to protect Second Amendment rights.

Maes said the idea of declaring a county or other local government unit as a Second Amendment sanctuary is “a nationwide trend.”

“I think it’s more prominent in other parts of the country than it is in Minnesota,” Maes said. Although he was aware of five Minnesota counties declaring themselves sanctuaries, Maes said he didn’t think Lyon County had been approached about passing a similar resolution.

Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions may show support for gun rights, Maes said, but “From a legal perspective, it’s not enforceable.” County governments can’t go against state laws, he said.

Ritter said it was still important for the county to have the conversation. There are “sanctuary cities” in the U.S. that limit their cooperation with immigration enforcement, he said. It could also be possible for the state of Minnesota to require counties to use local tax dollars to enforce laws or policies that benefit gun control supporters, he said.

“The conversation is good, but I don’t see this taking place,” Maes said.

Maes said gun permit applicants already go through background checks in Minnesota, and there didn’t seem to be a lot of support for stricter gun controls in the state Legislature. A “red flag” bill, which would allow weapons to be confiscated from people believed to be a risk to themselves or others, “barely made it through the (Minnesota) House last week,” Maes said. The bill likely won’t make it through the Senate, he said.

While commissioners didn’t take action on the proposed sanctuary resolution at Tuesday’s meeting, Ritter said he appreciated Maes’ input.