With the debate surrounding gun control heating up and President Obama calling for action on a national level, Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey said today that he stands with a group of sheriffs resisting federal control.

Downey is among the law enforcement officers on a "growing list of sheriffs saying ‘no' to Obama gun control," according to the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association.

"For me it's a constitutional issue," said Downey, confirming his alliance with CSPOA.  

According to the Texas-based group founded by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, "Sheriffs have risen up all over our great nation to stand up against the unconstitutional gun control measures being taken."

Also included on the list of 90 county sheriffs from around the U.S. are Mendocino County Sheriff Thomas Allman, Del Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson and Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey.

Former sheriff Mack is a member of Oath Keepers with a history of resistance to federal gun control. While serving as sheriff in Arizona, he initiated Mack and Printz v. United States (co-plaintiff Jay Printz was a Montana sheriff). The lawsuit challenged a portion of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that established a national instant background check system. The suit ultimately made it to the Supreme Court where the justices ruled 5-4 that certain provisions of the Brady Act were unconstitutional.