By Danica Katnik/news@whmi.com

Livingston County’s leaders have adopted a resolution affirming their support of the U.S. Constitution and its amendments including, as independently named, the Second Amendment.

The measure was first instigated by the Michigan for 2A Sanctuary Counties group and proposed to the County’s Board of Commissioners at a January meeting. A local resolution was developed by Commissioner Bob Bezotte with language urging State and Federal government agencies to (reject) “any provision, law, or regulation that may infringe, have the tendency to infringe, or place any additional burden on the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms and that restrict constitutional rights”.

The resolution came before the Board of Commissioners Monday for final consideration and was approved unanimously by commissioners in attendance, which included Bezotte, Wes Nakagiri, Kate Lawrence, Douglas Helzerman, Dennis Dolan and William Green. The chairperson seat is currently vacant due to the recent resignation of Donald Parker. Commissioners Carol Griffith and Gary Childs were absent. Griffith, however, previously supported the resolution by voting in favor of it at a Public Safety and Infrastructure and Development meeting last week. At that meeting, Childs was the only committee member to vote against the resolution, stating that he felt it would create divisiveness in the community. He expected to be absent from Monday’s meeting and told WHMI had he been present, he still would have voted against the resolution.

Bezotte on Monday thanked community members for attending the meetings on the resolution and says, “I appreciate both sides of the issue…I think it’s great to have such a great turnout of people coming in and expressing their feelings one way or another.”

As for "red flag laws", which seek to remove guns from people who may be a danger to themselves or others, Bezotte tells WHMI, “Everybody is well-intentioned on laws but we have so many laws in the book that we don’t even enforce now. As a police officer I took dozens and dozens of guns out of houses for various safety reasons. If an incident happens on a Friday night, a judge might address it on a Monday or Tuesday. So we’ve already got these safety laws in there.”

Speaking to his time in the military and law enforcement, and how that prompted him to pursue the effort Bezotte says, “I’ve worked it, I’ve done it. So I have firsthand knowledge of why we need to protect our Second Amendment rights and all 27 amendments…but the Second Amendment, it’s so important. If the Second Amendment falls, I feel in my heart that the rest…will start falling as well.”