Sheriffs won’t enforce tougher gun restrictions

County Sheriff’s in Colorado, New York and elsewhere are balking at a string of new gun control laws passed in 2013, in yet another setback for activists seeking tougher restrictions following last year’s elementary school massacre in Connecticut, The New York Times reports.

The post-Newtown gun control push has moved from Washington to state legislatures following the defeat of several bills in Congress in 2013. Advocates of stronger protections claim progress, pointing to several states – including Colorado and New York – which adopted tougher measures this year, according to RegWatch.

{mosads}However, the Times’s Erica Goode reports that some sheriffs are refusing to enforce the new rules. In Colorado, 55 of 62 elected sheriffs are backing a federal lawsuit challenging the statutes on constitutional grounds.

“The resistance of sheriffs in Colorado is playing out in other states, raising questions about whether tougher rules passed since Newtown will have a muted effect in parts of the American heartland, where gun ownership is common and grass-roots opposition to tighter restrictions is high,” writes Goode.

Check out the full New York Times story here.