Court OKs 2nd Amendment resolution; activists claim ‘bait & switch’ by Watts

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020 — With the meeting packed with onlookers, the Nelson Fiscal Court Tuesday morning approved a resolution in support of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The vote on a resolution was promised two weeks ago by Judge Executive Dean Watts in response to a request from gun rights group Nelson United, which sought Second Amendment Sanctuary status for Nelson County.

The resolution was approved by a 4-1 vote, with Magistrate Bernard Ice casting the only vote against the measure.

Click here to download an Adobe pdf copy of the resolution.

While fiscal court’s meeting only lasted about 20 minutes, it was followed by a “meeting after the meeting” of Second Amendment supporters who were angered by the court’s approval of a resolution they did not like — and one they explained did not achieve the group’s intended goals.

The crowd of Second Amendment supporters initially believed the magistrates had approved a version of the resolution that was also approved recently in Scott County. But what they soon found out was the resolution was a much shorter and simpler version of a resolution that simply reaffirmed fiscal court’s support for the Constitutional right to bear arms.

The resolution was not read aloud prior to the vote, and the crowd’s disappointment turned to anger when the fiscal court meeting was adjourned.

Watts and the magistrates kept their seats and allowed the audience members to speak about the resolution — and speak out they did, for more than half an hour.

Nelson United organizer Matt Lacy told the court the resolution they passed was “garbage.”

Another audience member slipped a pair of red socks on his hands as puppets, with one sock representing Watts and the other sock representing the magistrates. He used the puppets to demonstrate his belief that Watts controls the magistrates and how they vote. At this point, Watts gathered his papers and left the courtroom.

Magistrate Bernard Ice — the only “no” vote — left the room as well.

Those who spoke out did so with passion and the anger of learning the resolution they thought would be passed was not approved.

Lacy predicted that with the exception of Jeff Lear — the only magistrate to express support for Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution — the rest of fiscal court will be voted out at the next election.

“I guarantee that none of you will be involved in politics once this next election comes along,” Lacy said.

Shelburne invited Lacy to run for office. “C’mon in Matt, the water’s fine.”

“I could do a hell of lot better job representing our community than you all do,” Lacy quipped.

Shelburne eventually left, leaving only Magistrates Jeff Lear, Gary Coulter and Keith Metcalfe, who stayed in their seats and listened as their constituents continued to speak.

Members of the group had sharp words for County Attorney Matthew Hite, who some claimed was unwilling to compromise on a resolution that both he and the gun rights group would find acceptable.

Hite said his concern about the resolutions had mainly to do with not running afoul of KRS 65.870(2), a section of state law that prohibits local governments from passing local firearms regulations by “ordinance, executive order, adminstrative regulation, policy, procedure, rule, or any other form of executive or legislative action in violation of [KRS 65.870} or the spirit hereof.”

Hite’s legal concerns failed to gain sympathy from the crowd; one audience member said that if 50 other counties have approved resolutions, then Hite “must be a hell of a county attorney” to see problems with the resolution that other county attorneys had signed off on.

Don Thrasher, a Republican candidate for 50th District state representative, acted as both a member of the media and an Second Amendment activist. He called Watts “a chicken” for leaving the gathering early, and accused Watts of admitting to an Open Meetings violation.

In an email exchange with Lacy, Watts told Lacy that in regard to one draft resolution that the magistrates wouldn’t support it. Thrasher told the crowd that was a tacit admission that Watts was in violation of the Open Meetings act by communicating privately with magistrates in order to skirt the Open Meetings law.

He called fiscal court’s resolution approval “a bait-and-switch” routine.

“What Dean [Watts] did today was not a democratic process,” Thrasher said. “This was a railroad job.”

Thrasher also claimed that Watts violated the Open Meetings law, and promised to file a complaint.

Magistrate Gary Coulter reminded the crowd that Nelson Fiscal Court doesn’t have any say in state legislation. “Our hands are tied,” he said.

Magistrate Keith Metcalfe suggested that the Second Amendment supporters lobby their legislators in Frankfort to oppose the proposed bills that would restrict gun ownership.

Former Sheriff Steve Campbell cited his strong support for the Second Amendment.

Campbell said the threat to Second Amendment rights has awakened concern among a great many people who are worried about the erosion of their rights.

“With the Second Amendment, now people are taking notice and opening their eyes,” he said. “We need people to come out and vote, that’s how you get change.”

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