“....but in many places, the Sheriffs have been on “our” side, at least against gun control.”
You are correct, in a lot of places. Unfortunately, in the populated parts of this country, with a few notable exceptions, the local sheriff’s are nothing more than political hacks ( like Baca in Los Angeles). There are 58 counties in California. In the counties with low populations, the sheriff’s will issue CCW permits for the asking, but just try to get one in San Diego, Los Angeles, or the Bay Area. Our sheriff is a turd! His predecessor was the same ( that worthless A$$hole was the one who allowed Stacy Dugard to stay with her captors for another three years because his officers did a pi$$ poor job of investigating a neighbors complaint). The County Sheriff should be our last best protection against the Federal and State Governments, but I will bet you that a small percentage of them rise to that expectation. We get what we vote for, and sadly that’s not much!
Time to start conscripting 18 year olds to help with the prison population...
Yep, urban sheriffs are essentially the military wing of the local Democratic power base.