Jefferson County sheriff takes stand on gun debate

A Facebook post on a controversial topic by Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins is drawing some attention from residents.

Adkins told NewsChannel 21 on Monday he’s not backing down from his post, which was made on Easter Sunday.

In the post, Adkins takes a strong stand on the Second Amendment and gun laws and attached a video produced by the National Rifle Association.

“I hope people are paying attention to what is going on in Oregon, right now,” Adkins said in a post to the sheriff’s office Facebook page.

The sheriff wrote that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is under attack and other amendments could be in jeopardy in the near future.

In the post, Adkins publicly announced he doesn’t support “extreme risk protection orders,” which forbid a person from having or buying a gun if they are deemed by family or law enforcement to be a threat to themselves or others.

He also said he is opposed to IP 43, a proposed ballot initiative that would ban sales, production and ownership of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

“These laws will not help protect me, my deputies or the public, Adkins wrote. “These laws, and any law restricting any type of arms, will only make us weaker, making ‘good people’ law breakers and ‘bad people’ stronger,” he said.

Adkins said he wanted to inform people of what’s going on in Oregon in regards to gun laws. He said he wants people to look into these laws and educate themselves on these issues.

“Let’s just stand up and speak our minds,” Adkins said Monday. “Everybody, whether it’s on the right or left, have a right to speak their mind. I think people who read my post need to go in and educate themselves on what the law would actually do and how it has long-term effects, and make a decision for themselves and for them (to) actually post and speak for themselves.”

Adkins said some cities with tight gun laws have the highest crime rates, in terms of gun-related violence.

“When you take the firearms away from people, you’re just taking them away from good people who will obey the law,” he said. “They will reluctantly give up their firearms because they don’t want to become criminals, but you’re not actually protecting the public any more, because the bad guys will still have the guns.”

The sherif said having trained and armed teachers and security guards will make the schools more safe than gun free-zones at schools.

Some people in Madras support Adkins and his stance on state gun laws.

“I’m just glad that he’s stepping up to the plate and agreeing with the majority vote of the county,” Seth Bush said.

But some gun owners and hunters told NewsChannel 21 there needs to be some kind of change when it comes to assault rifles.

“I think we’ve got to do something about AR-15s — what kind of restrictions, we’ve got to start somewhere — we can’t just do nothing,” Allen Campbell said.

NewsChannel 21 also spoke to County Commissioner Mike Ahern, who said he doesn’t agree with the sheriff on most things, and this issue is one of them.

Adkins said he set up the sheriff’s office Facebook page when he was elected eight years ago and runs the page on his own.

Do you agree with Sheriff Adkins’ stance? It’s the topic of our latest KTVZ.COM Poll, which you can find halfway down the right side of our home page.