Sheriff Mike Lewis
Despite the juggernaut passage of increasingly restrictive gun laws in Maryland, at least one Eastern-Shore county sheriff there has taken a stand that has been getting a fair amount of attention, thanks to a YouTube video in which this lawman makes it clear he will not allow his citizens to be stripped of their right to bear arms.
Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis was quoted by USA Today and the Delmarva Daily News, noting, “As long as I’m the sheriff in this county, I will not allow the federal government to come in here and strip my citizens of their right to bear arms. I can tell you this; if they attempt to do that, it would be an all-out civil war, no question about it.”
That statement came from a video that has gone viral. While Lewis’ remarks are like a breath of fresh air for beleaguered Maryland gunowners, they have also inspired a call for a revocation of his state law enforcement teaching certification by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), headquartered in Washington, DC.
USA Today reported that the sheriff also appeared in another video, from WRDE, a Delaware television station, in which he blasted Maryland’s Firearms Safety Act of 2013. The justification for the statute linked it to the December 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy in Connecticut, not Maryland.
“Who am I to tell them what they should or should not protect their families with?” Lewis asked, according to the newspaper. “Who am I to tell them they shouldn’t have a magazine with 30 rounds behind the door when some thug is trying to break into their home? … If you start coming into people’s homes to disarm them solely because you believe they don’t have a Second Amendment right to bear arms, you better stand by. It will be, without a doubt, a civil war.”
Predictably, Sheriff Lewis has received hundreds of supporting messages.
Lewis opposed the 2013 law, which has been upheld by a circuit court federal judge, but is being appealed to a higher court. Lewis traveled to Annapolis to testify against the measure, telling a State Senate committee that the law would “do nothing to reduce, suppress or stem the flow of gun crimes on the streets.” At the time he said the legislation was a “feel good” effort.
The controversial interview in which Lewis emerged as a stalwart defender of the Second Amendment was reportedly part of a Carnegie-Knight News 21 project called “Gun Wars: The Struggle Over Rights and Regulation in America.” It’s a program conducted by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
Lewis has even been praised by other law enforcement professionals, including one retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was shot while on duty, the newspaper said.
He insisted in the News 21 interview that he is not in favor of letting criminals have access to firearms, but that stripping law-abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights is not the answer to violent crime.
Lewis is no newcomer to the world of law enforcement. He retired as a sergeant with the Maryland State Police, Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement Team (PACE) after 22 years of service. He was directly responsible for the training and education of all Maryland State Police personnel in the Criminal Interdiction Venue and has trained tens of thousands of law enforcement officers extensively throughout the US and Canada as well as other parts of the world. He was first elected sheriff in 2006.
The CSGV wants Lewis’ teaching certification to be revoked. In response, Lewis said the Second Amendment isn’t an issue that is brought up in the classroom. In classes, he teaches about apprehending and identifying criminals, he said. The only part of the Constitution that comes in is the Fourth Amendment, which relates to searches and seizures.
And it’s “ludicrous” for the coalition to think he isn’t going to enforce laws, Lewis said. “They’re going to twist and turn this to suit their own special needs,” he said of the online CSGV petition campaign.
