Candidate for Sheriff in N.C. 'Jokes' About Taking Guns From Cold, Dead Hands

A Democrat candidate’s joke about taking guns from the cold, dead hands of gun owners may have played well with his liberal audience in Asheville, N.C., earlier this month, but a widely-shared video of the crack has since fallen flat with thousands of Second Amendment supporters.

Daryl Fisher, who is running for sheriff in Democrat-heavy Buncombe County,  N.C., made the comment after talking about the types of gun restrictions he favors during a meeting with the Michael Bloomberg-funded anti-gun group Moms Demand Action on March 7.

Fisher told the group that he wants to see the age requirement for people to purchase firearms raised to 21 and said that gun owners should be subjected to mandated proficiency testing every year. He also advocated that concealed carry permit holders only be allowed to carry the firearm they trained with.

The candidate also talked about weapons he wants to see banned. “I think we should ban the sale of all high-capacity magazines, including handguns and long guns,” he told the group. “Any weapon that is designed for use by the military, I think we should ban,” he said to much applause.

“What about people that already had weapons?” Fisher continued. “Well, I’m gonna tell you now, don’t buy into the scare tactics, don’t believe the scare tactics, because you’ve heard people say ‘You’ll have to pry my guns from my cold, dead hands,’” he said, adding with a grin and a shrug, “OK!” to the delight of the gun-grabbing crowd.

Fisher went on to lament that it was actually unconstitutional to take firearms away that were legally purchased. “We just can’t do it,” he admitted.

https://youtu.be/VMDcn97gu2w

After suffering some backlash for the comments, Fisher posted the following statement on Facebook:

If you want to know what my statements were, listen to all of the videos in their entirety. There is one statement that many up to now have taken offense to. That statement starts out with language similar to, “Don’t believe the scare tactics,” and I say that some gun enthusiast might say, “You will have to pry my gun from my cold dead hands.” This is also a movie quote. The crowd laughed and I made a joke. I admit the joke was a mistake and I should not have joked. But I go on to relay that the government cannot take away any guns or any items that were legally sold before any new laws take effect. To do this would be unconstitutional because that would constitute what is called an ex post facto law. Responsible gun owners have nothing to worry about. We have to do something different because what has been done is not working.