State Sen. Elliott: Second COVID-19 shutdown order ‘unenforceable’ — ‘Who is going to go to the restaurant and say you’re closed down?’

Friday, State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Daphne) warned about the prospects of a second shutdown order as COVID-19 numbers spike in some locations around the country.

As Joe Biden is proceeding forward with a presidential transition, he named his so-called coronavirus task force last week, among which includes Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Osterholm has been outspoken about another round of closures done in the name of mitigating COVID-19.

During an interview with Mobile radio’s FM Talk 106.5, Elliott insisted shutdowns should be left up to local governments and argued that a shutdown made by a centralized authority like the federal government would be difficult to enforce.

“[T]his is going to be a decision made state by state, and frankly locality by locality — if it happens,” he said. “But I would say this, and I think this is true in Alabama: You are seeing these type of orders are very difficult, if not impossible, to enforce. And even with what has occurred over the last six-plus months, you are seeing folks saying, ‘Look, enough is enough. I’m not doing it.’ And that is going to make shutting things down unenforceable. You’re going to have law enforcement that says, ‘Look, we’re not closing these businesses down. We’re not enforcing these orders.'”

“And the question becomes the same question we had way back when we started all of this is nonsense — who is going to go to the restaurant and say you’re closed down?” he continued. “Is the sheriff going to do it? Who is going to close down this business or that business? Who is going to enforce these types of orders? I think you’re going to run into a serious problem if the government, in general, is telling folks what to do.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.