Remembering the Oath of Office

 Yesterday, John Petrolino had an excellent article at Bearing Arms entitled Virginia Sheriff: If Bad Guys Are Carrying Guns for Free, Why Should Good Guys Have to Pay? It is a good question. Most of us have come to accept that government at all levels acts much as the mafia. They extract taxes from their citizens by threatening them with overwhelming punishments for not paying. Supposedly they provide good roads and police and fire protection and schools. But if they don't, can you protest by deducting the parts they do not provide from your taxes? Well, good luck with that. Supposedly we get to elect our oppressors, though as we have seen lately, even that is called into question. Still, that is the system we have.

So, it is good to see a public servant who actually believes in serving the public and not himself:

How do licensing officials get away with charging for the Second Amendment? Sheriff Cline of Wythe County, Va. asked the same and abolished the Sheriff’s background check fee for CCWs.

Interim Sheriff Anthony Cline of Wythe County, Virginia recently stepped up to serve since the retirement of Sheriff Charles Foster. The first official public act that Sheriff Cline executed since taking office was the declaration that he’d no longer be collecting fees for concealed handgun permit applications. In the August 4, 2025 letter he sent to the county clerk, Cline said, “As Sheriff, I do not believe citizens should be charged to exercise their constitutional rights.”

Sheriff Cline’s move to no longer accept the sheriff’s portion of permitting fees is part of a growing movement. Cline does not attribute his action to what’s been seen in New Jersey with townships nullifying permit to carry fees. However, that does not change that this is starting to become a trend.

...snip...

“When I was sworn in by the Circuit Court Judge, I recited the following oath,” Cline said. “I, Anthony Cline, do solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon me in the Office of Sheriff, so help me God.”

Cline said that when he reflected upon that oath of office, “especially the part about upholding the Constitution of the United States,” he said he thought about what that truly means. “I consider myself an American patriot. While our country has its challenges, I still believe we live in the greatest nation on Earth,” Cline said.

Well, glory and halleljah. He is correct. When the state insists on a background check to issue a concealed handgun permit, it should fund that background check itself out of taxes already extracted from the people. Extracting yet another fee, which is ultimately just another tax has always felt like adding insult to injury to me. I hope he wins, and when he does, that he retains this attitude. It is refreshing.