Another Sheriff Supports Gun Ownership.

Sheriff In North Carolina Understands Law Enforcement Isn’t The First Line Of Defense

August 5, 2014 by Ben Bullard 

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Harnett County, N.C. Sheriff Larry Rollins gets it. He wants his deputies to respond to calls as fast as they can, but he knows that it takes a while to drive from point A to point B, no matter how urgent a call sounds.

He also knows that citizens who’ve been targeted by criminals have the right to protect themselves and hold down the fort until help arrives.

“When I am out with my family, even though I am a cop, I don’t go anywhere without a gun,” Rollins told a packed crowd Monday evening at the Spring Hill United Methodist Church in Lillington, N.C.

“I mean it’s sad we have to have that attitude,” Rollins continued, “but I am going to protect myself and my family. I want my deputies at your house just as fast as they can when you got a problem, but you better be able to take care of business until we get there if you have to protect your family.”

According to local television news station WTVD, the crowd was there in response to a recent “explosion” in violent crime, having answered a call to a community meeting to discuss solutions with law enforcement.

In late July, a rash of violent incidents in the area shocked small-town residents in Harnett County, home to 120,000 people. There was a murder in Spring Lake, in nearby Cumberland County, on or around July 30. Two other men were shot in the town of Cameron, about half an hour away from Lillington, on Aug. 1. A crash resulting from a high-speed police chase in Lillington sent a man to the hospital July 29.