The most recent shooting by a teen gunman at Arapahoe High School in Colorado last week comes against a backdrop that should concern Americans greatly, and minorities in particular.

It’s bad enough that gun violence continues apace in America, where we continue to lead our civilized nation counterparts in deaths from such weapons. But when law enforcement officials themselves refuse to enforce gun statutes, and try to challenge their legitimacy in court, it is especially troubling.

Even in the face of aggressive lobbying to the contrary, many state legislatures have adopted tougher regulations on gun checks, semi-automatic weapons and ammunition, on the heels of tragedies like Aurora, Colo. and Sandy Hook, Conn. And there are indications of the new laws’ success; in Colorado, for instance, it has been recently reported that since the new statutes were adopted, permits have been denied to a number of applicants. (The Arapahoe shooter’s weapon was legally obtained.)

Yet a number of sheriffs in Colorado have sought to undo some of the restrictions by joining in a lawsuit challenging the laws under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. As reported in the Denver Post on Nov. 27, United States District Court Judge Marcia Krieger indicated that while sheriffs as individual citizens might sue, they have no right to do so in their official capacity.

“If individual sheriffs wish to protect individual rights or interests they may do so…however, the sheriffs have confused their individual rights and interests with those of the county sheriff’s office,” Krieger said.

Sheriffs, whether elected or appointed, are hired to enforce existing law. Their positions are in place for the purpose of carrying forth the mandate of legislative actions, whether they agree or disagree with them. As long as those laws have not been overturned, there’s no room for civil disobedience; that’s the purview of private citizens.

Surely, experienced law enforcement officials are expected to use their professional discretion to determine when and to what extent to deploy resources based on factors such as available finances and staff. But substituting their personal views for those of the electorate or judges is taboo.

So it’s even more distressing than the attempt at joining in the federal lawsuit that sheriffs may simply be refusing to enforce new gun laws because of their personal views that the statutes violate constitutional law.

It was reported this week in the Sunday New York Times that on the heels of stringent new laws being adopted, “two sheriffs have said publicly they would not enforce the laws — inaction that (Gov. Andrew) Cuomo said would set ‘a dangerous and frightening precedent.’”  In Colorado, per the same article in the Times, “Some sheriffs…are refusing to enforce the laws, saying that they are too vague and violate Second Amendment rights.”

So in essence, law enforcement officials are putting themselves in the role of self-appointed judges — examining the laws and making their own determinations that, for whatever reason, the statutes don’t qualify as worthy of application.

Those sheriffs who are rearing on their Second Amendment high horses to preclude enforcement of gun statutes may somehow think that they are performing noble deeds. But the historical echoes of their current deeds suggest otherwise.

It was less than 60 years ago that federal officials and forces converged on Southern states for their failure to enforce nascent civil rights laws intended to protect minorities from lynchings, hangings and other brutal forms of racism and discrimination. And local police departments continue to operate under federal consent   decrees today by virtue of racial profiling and other violations of law.

Gun-zealot law enforcement officials may rationalize their refusal to act, or their pseudo-judicial conduct, but their actions are indistinguishable from “look the other way” handling of civil rights laws that has allowed the perpetuation of hateful acts against blacks, Jews, gays and other minorities in this nation.

It is bad enough that gun manufacturers and lobbying groups such as the National Rifle Association continue to bully legislators into avoiding sensible legislation. But at least those groups have the protected right to advocate for what they believe or for what’s in their self-interest. Sheriffs don’t get to pick and choose which laws they enforce based on personal preferences. When they act that way, it represents an erosion of our finely-tuned separation of powers and a step toward the ruination of effective democracy.