The gun culture runs very deeply in this country:

President Obama’s gun proposals ignore ‘real issues,’ Kent County Sheriff Larry Stelma says

The gun-control debate sparked testy rhetoric this week, and some law enforcement leaders in Michigan and beyond haven’t been shy about saying they won’t enforce tougher laws aimed at assault-style weapons.

West Michigan sheriffs are trying to cut through the bluster. When it comes to gun violence, they think the national debate is missing the bigger picture.

“I am sick and tired of both sides,” said Kent County Sheriff Larry Stelma. “People are trying to gin up emotional attention to issues. Quite frankly, none of it solves the problem.”

In Northern Michigan, Benzie County Sheriff Ted Schendel is among sheriffs across the U.S. who say they would not enforce new gun restrictions, such as an assault-weapon ban, proposed by President Barack Obama.

He told UpNorthLive.com that Obama is trying to “limit or circumvent the Second Amendment by restricting assault-style weapons and 30-round magazines.

“I took an oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution. Any law that the federal government passes which circumvents our Second Amendment, I will not abide by, and I will not enforce,” he told UpNorthLive.com

Jackson County, Ky., Sheriff Denny Peyman told NBC News: “Kentucky is a sovereign state. … The federal government is coming in and saying, ‘This is what you’re going to do.’ We’re not going to do it.”

Stelma says the debate spurred by Obama’s gun-control proposals misses the bigger picture. It takes the focus away from areas that could bring real change: mental-health treatment, stronger families and eliminating children’s exposure to violence in video games and other media.

“This hype is just a bunch of nonsense,” Stelma said Thursday, Jan. 17.

Stelma said federal agents enforce federal laws, while local and state officers enforce state laws. He said any changes would not affect the way his deputies conduct their business.

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Ottawa County Sheriff Gary Rosema agreed with Stelma: “The big issue is, mental-health reform is needed.”

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It’s going to be a tough haul for the President to enact even the meek proposals he’s stated.