text: Dear Honorable Sheriff Tommy S. Wooten II,The midterm elections are coming up next year and, from what I have read, you will be seeking reelection in 2022. I cast my ballot for you last election on the word of friends and family and I must say that I believe I made a good choice. There have been many developments happening over the last couple years that have raised my concern and so I am writing to you directly in an effort to determine your stance on some key issues.I am aware that when you took the elected office of Pasquotank County Sheriff, you swore an oath to “support and maintain the Constitution and the laws of the United States, and the Constitution and laws of North Carolina not inconsistent therewith,”The first ten amendments to our Constitution are commonly known as our “Bill of Rights”.They are rights, not granted by the government, but by God. I won't ask you your views of all ten ammendments here due to the limited time and space involved, but I will ask you to give me your stance on three of them.First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”The First Amendment forbids our government from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an individual’s religious practices. Since the onset of the 2019 Coronavirus pandemic in the United States, public officials have issued numerous emergency directives closing non-essential businesses and facilities and instructing non-essential workers to stay home. This includes closing down our churches, which have been deemed “Non-essential” by our government. Presently, we are only going to church because our government allows us to and they can shut it down anytime they choose. 1 in 5 churches are shutting down permanently. The First Amendment also guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting our government from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has acknowledged the Biden administration is collaborating with social media platforms to censor content it opposes. The First Amendment also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably and to petition their government. On Sept. 29, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter to President Biden stating that “America’s public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat.”According to NSBA, an organization that donates large sums of money to the Democratic Party, this immediate threat comes in the form of parents who criticize local school board officials for decisions they believe negatively impact their children. When parents attend school board meetings to voice their disapproval of critical race theory or explicit sexual content propagated in classrooms, they supposedly pose an immediate threat. Question 1: Please give a brief response that will enable me to determine your thoughts and views on the first amendment in relation to the above issues.Second Amendment: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”Security in this sense means "safekeeping, defense, and protection." Infringed simply means "to trespass or violate"; in this case, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be violated. No one can deny that there has been an escalating attack by the current administration on our right to bear arms.Question 2: Should the Federal Government impose a mandate or law restricting our right to bear arms, including confiscation of arms from law-abiding citizens, would you enforce those laws or mandates, which are in direct conflict with the second amendment of the United States Constitution?