YULEE, Fla. -- In his second week on the job, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper is getting settled into his new position. He enters office at a time when gun laws and school security are hot topics, and when people are looking to their leaders to fix the problem.
"There's not one fix," said Sheriff Leeper.
Calling the gun control issue complicated, Leeper believes as most people in law enforcement do; restricting guns is not the answer.
"You have to look at the issues behind that," he said. "And why people are doing the things they're doing. And a lot of it has to do with mental health issues."
He says better care for the mentally ill would help. And as far as school security, he says he and the school superintendent have already discussed it.
The Sheriff's Office already provides five school resource officers for middle and high schools. Leeper says the superintendent is, "Looking at ways to cover the elementary schools as well."
Sheriff Leeper says his job is to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and to enforce the law, not create it.
