Richard Mack

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Richard Mack is a former sheriff of Graham County, Ariz., who is active in a loosely organized movement called The Oath Keepers, which seeks to get law enforcement and military personnel to pledge that they will refuse to obey 10 orders they consider unconstitutional, including any commands to confiscate guns or perform warrantless searches.

Mack is well-known among those promoting state sovereignty for a 1995 case he won before the U.S. Supreme Court. Mack successfully challenged the federal government's authority to require local law enforcement agencies to perform background checks on citizens seeking to purchase guns, as is required by the Brady Bill.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups nationwide, has said the Oath Keepers is a "particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival." The center says the group uses thinly veiled language to suggest "that the government has secret plans to declare martial law and intern patriotic Americans in concentration camps."

External resources

• The Sovereignty Project: http://www.sovereigntyproject.com/Site/Sheriff_Mack.html