Benton County Sheriff Tom Croskrey is weighing in on an incident in Delaware that's being discussed in right wing circles, saying he will defend citizens against federal gun rights violations.
Law enforcement is not allowed to inspect your property, which would include guns, without probable cause, he told Benton County residents on a news release.
If U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, agents show up on your property without providing a legal reason and will not leave, call the Benton County Sheriff's Office, he said.
He or his deputies will investigate, he said.
"It is my duty as the sheriff of Benton County to defend the citizens and their constitutional rights," Croskrey said in the signed news release Wednesday.
"Your Second Amendment right to bear arms will not be infringed upon, and any action taken by the federal government that is incongruent with those rights will not be enforced by my office," he said.
His statements were prompted by requests of Benton County citizens that he comment, he said.
Concern was raised by some conservative news media and gun rights organizations over a doorbell video that was posted anonymously showing a visit to a Delaware home by law enforcement identified as two ATF agents and a Delaware state trooper.
One of the ATF agents, as identified in news reports, asks the person who answered the door to verify that he has guns from two different purchases in his possession.
"The reason we are out here is obviously gun violence, there has been an uptick," said the state officer. "....We have been having a lot of issues with straw purchases."
"Straw" purchases are when a person buys a gun to be transferred to a person who cannot legally buy a gun themselves.
Purchasing more than two guns at a time generates a multiple-sales report that law enforcement then checks out, said the ATF agent who asked to see the guns.
"You did nothing wrong," he assures the man who answered the door.
Benton sheriff criticizes ATF
Rep. Matt Rosendale, a Montana Republican said that the ATF agents did not have a search warrant and they had to rely on pressuring the homeowner for consent, according to the Washington Times.
Rosendale was quoted as calling it "a surprise and unwarranted firearms inspection."
"This is really, really dangerous," said conservative commentator Glenn Beck. "They are preying on people who don't know their rights or Americans who are just so polite they go, 'Oh, OK'."
Croskrey said the agents wanted to make sure the man who purchased the guns then had not sold or given the guns to someone who could not pass the ATF background check.
But, at least as far as information is available, the agents had no reason to suspect a purchase had been made with the intent of transferring guns to someone else, Croskrey said.
The ATF is not allowed to maintain a gun registry of privately owned firearms, Croskrey said.
"It seems incongruent with the laws that an ATF agent can conduct a surprise inspection of your firearms based off a list of purchases when they are not allowed to maintain a list," Croskrey said.
It also is out of the ordinary for any law enforcement officer to knock on someone's door to randomly inspect for potential crimes, he said.
"If an ATF agent arrives on your property and asks for permission to search your property you are free to allow the search and limit their search, but you do not have to," Croskrey said. "You may ask the agents to leave your property immediately."
