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LOCA^NATION
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, February 16, 2023 3A
Second Amendment sanctuary
measure overturned in Oregon
ANDREW SELSKY I Associated Press
A man enters a gun shop in Salem, Ore., on Feb. 19, 2021. An Oregon court decided
Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, that local governments can’t declare themselves Second
Amendment sanctuaries and ban police from enforcing certain gun laws within their
borders.
BY CLAIRE RUSH
AND LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. —
Local governments in
Oregon can’t declare them
selves Second Amendment
sanctuaries and ban police
from enforcing certain gun
laws, a state appeals court
decided Wednesday, in the
first court case filed over a
concept that hundreds of
U.S. counties have adopted
in recent years.
The measure in ques
tion, which was approved
in Columbia County, for
bids local officials from
enforcing most federal and
state gun laws and would
impose thousands of dol
lars in fines on those who
try.
The state Court of
Appeals ruled that it vio
lates a law giving the state
the power to regulate
firearms. The ordinance
would effectively, it found,
“create a ‘patchwork quilt’
of firearms laws in Oregon,
where firearms regula
tions that applied in some
counties would not apply in
Columbia County,” some
thing lawmakers specifi
cally wanted to avoid.
Second Amendment
sanctuary resolutions have
been adopted by some
1,200 local governments
around the U.S., includ
ing in Virginia, Colorado,
New Mexico, Kansas, Illi
nois and Florida, experts
say. Many are symbolic,
but some carry legal force
like the one in Columbia
County, a conservative,
rural logging area in deep-
blue Oregon.
The sanctuary move
ment took off around
2018 as states considered
stricter gun laws in the
wake of mass shootings, but
it had not previously faced
a major legal challenge.
The Oregon case was
filed in 2021 under a pro
vision in state law that
allows a judge to examine
a measure before it goes
into effect. A trial court
judge originally declined
to rule, a decision that was
appealed to the higher
court.
The ordinance’s support
ers included the Oregon
Firearms Federation,
which said in a statement
Wednesday that the rul
ing “calls into question the
legitimacy of the court and
the likelihood of getting
fair rulings from it.”
Opponents included
the legal arm of the group
Everytown for Gun Safety,
which had argued that
the ordinance violated
the U.S. Constitution. Eric
Tirschwell, executive
director of Everytown
Law, called the court’s
decision “a win for public
safety and the rule of law.”
“Opponents of gun safety
laws have every right to
advocate for change at
the ballot box, statehouse,
or Congress, but claim
ing to nullify them at the
local level is both unconsti
tutional and dangerous,”
Tirschwell said.
State Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum, who has
also sued two other Second
Amendment sanctuary
counties, also applauded
the ruling.
“Today’s opinion by the
Court of Appeals makes it
clear that common sense
requirements like safe
storage and background
checks apply throughout
Oregon,” Rosenblum said.
“Hopefully, other counties
with similar measures on
the books will see the writ
ing on the wall.”
PAYCHECK
■ Continued from 1A
caused anxiety because it
was the first time where
folks who were used to
seeing those pending
deposits, depending on
their banks, sometimes
popping up on Thursday
night or first thing Friday
morning,” he said. “We’re
trying to reinforce with
our workforce that, if you
did get paid on Friday,
you got paid on time.”
Couch said ADP has
assigned additional per
sonnel to oversee NGHS’
payroll operations to
guarantee employees
receive their checks on
pay day as expected.
Lane closures set as
part of upcoming
1-985 bridge work
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Motorists are urged to
“consider alternative routes
to avoid delays” as overnight
lane closures on Interstate
985 are set to start Wednes
day night and end Friday
morning, according to the
Georgia Department of
Transportation.
A half-mile stretch of one
of the two northbound lanes
between Exit 17 and mile
marker 18 will be closed
nightly between 8 p.m. and
6:30 a.m. A half-mile stretch
of one of the two south
bound lanes along that same
stretch will be closed nightly
between 7 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.
Weather permitting, “tem
porary barrier walls will be
installed along the inside and
outside shoulder of 1-985,” a
GDOT press release states.
The Feb. 15-17 lane clo
sures are related to GDOT’s
replacement of Elachee
Bridge over 1-985.
In addition to the bridge’s
replacement, the extent
of other work will include
pedestrian upgrades and
new beautification features,
involving rock facing and
ornamental fencing.
Improvements on the
bridge are expected to be
complete by Oct. 31.
Dave Hollis,
former exec
for Disney
dies at 47
DALLAS — Dave Hollis,
who left his post as a Dis
ney executive to help his
wife run a successful life
style empire, has died at his
home in Texas. He was 47.
Hollis, whose ex-wife
Rachel Hollis wrote the
bestseller “Girl, Wash Your
Face,” was pronounced
dead Sunday afternoon
at his home in Dripping
Springs, a city on the out
skirts of Austin, according
to Hays County Justice of
the Peace Andrew Cable.
An autopsy will be per
formed to determine the
cause of death since Hollis,
who was last seen the eve
ning before, was “youthful
and didn’t have a long medi
cal history,” Cable said.
In an Instagram post on
Tuesday, Rachel Hollis
asked for prayers as the
family tries to “navigate
through the unthinkable.”
“We are devastated,” she
wrote. “I have no words and
my heart is too broken.”
Dave Hollis worked for
Disney for 17 years and had
been head of distribution
for the company for seven
years when he left in 2018 to
join his wife’s venture. The
parents of four moved from
Los Angeles to the Aus
tin area, collaborated on
livestreams, podcasts and
organized life-affirming
conferences. In their pod
cast, “Rise Together,” they
focused on marriage.
When Rachel Hollis
announced on Instagram
in 2020 that they were get
ting divorced, she said they
had worked “endlessly”
over the prior three years
to make their marriage
work but came to the con
clusion that “it is healthier
and more respectful for us
to choose this as the end of
our journey as a married
couple.”
Hollis also wrote moti
vational books. His book
“Get Out of Your Own
Way: A Skeptic’s Guide to
Growth and Fulfillment”
was published in 2020 and
he released “Built Through
Courage: Face Your Fears
to Live the Life You Were
Meant For” in 2021.
Associated Press
We love our community, and we know you
do, too. So this February, though days can
be rough and the news can be grim, we’re
asking you to share something you love
about Hall County.
It could be a place, a special moment or certain
characteristics of our community — whatever makes
you smile when you think of Hall. Scan to Submit 300
words or less and we’ll publish a selection of the best
on our Opinion page. Let’s put some good vibes back
into our community!
Z\xt Antics
gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly local.
HALL
March 9
9am-noon
COME OUT AND
JOIN US FOR
HEALTH
DEMONSTRATIONS,
AND INFORMATION
FOR ALL AGES.
Frances Meadows
Aquatic Center
1545 Community Way
Gainesville, GA
30501
Sponsored by it
Northeast Georgia Health System
Interested in a Booth
at our Healthy Hall
Event?
Email:
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to resen/e your space.
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