Guns And State Preemption And Nullification

BY Herschel Smith
9 years, 4 months ago

Guns.com:

With the stroke of a pen Tuesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) turned a controversial bill into law that will allow third parties to sue municipalities over local gun codes stronger than the state’s.

The measure, added as an amendment to a metal theft bill, had passed the state legislature earlier this month by wide margins. It allows groups such as the National Rifle Association to stand in for local citizens in challenging gun city and county control ordinances stronger than the state’s own laws in court.

With Corbett’s signature, the new law will take effect in 60 days, potentially dozens of strict city and county firearms laws under the gaze of gun rights groups such as the NRA, who called the bill Tuesday, “the strongest firearms preemption statute in the country.”

Now for federal threats:

Members of Congress who want to infringe on your right to keep and bear arms will never give up. Fortunately, through our states we can effectively render any new federal gun laws powerless by using a legal doctrine upheld repeatedly by the Supreme Court.

This is done by depriving the feds of any enforcement assistance by local law enforcement agencies in their state, a doctrine known as “anti-commandeering.”

Essentially, it provides that state legislation can prohibit state law enforcement from aiding the federal agencies attempting to enforce federal gun laws.

In other words, the federal government cannot require a state to carry out federal acts. The federal government can pass a law and try to enforce it, but the state isn’t required to help them.

Is this legal?

It is according to the US Supreme Court. For 150 years it has repeatedly affirmed the constitutionality of anti-commandeering laws.

Relevant court cases include:

* 1842 Prigg v. Pennslvania: The court held that states weren’t required to enforce federal slave rendition laws.

* 1992 New York v. US: The court held that Congress couldn’t require states to enact specified waste disposal regulations.

* 1997 Printz v. US: The court held that “the federal government may not compel the states to enact or administer a federal regulatory program.”

* 2012 Independent Business v. Sebelius: The Court held that the federal government can not compel states to expand Medicaid by threatening to withhold funding for Medicaid programs already in place.

What do you notice to be common between these articles concerning advocacy for state’s rights?  Answer: turning to the courts for moral and legal justification.

The new law in Pennsylvania would be impressive if only it had prepared the infrastructure to send state law enforcement after local authorities if they didn’t observe our rights.  Nullification of local regulations combined with spending some quality time in the hoosegow for the local politicians would send a strong signal to those who would ignore the law.  Frankly, I cannot imagine a weaker state government than one which passes a law only to have cities and townships ignore it, and then have to turn to the courts to tell the local authorities to obey the state laws.  It’s embarrassing and scandalous.

And turning to the federal courts to tell ourselves that it’s okay to ignore the federal authorities when their edicts violate the covenant upon which they are supposed to labor and lead is equally embarrassing.  More than simply not aiding federal authorities in their totalitarian measures, state law enforcement ought to be sent to arrest said federal authorities, throw them in the state penitentiary, and throw away the key.

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Comments

  1. On October 31, 2014 at 8:19 pm, pjb1 said:

    “Frankly, I cannot imagine a weaker state government than one which
    passes a law only to have cities and townships ignore it, and then have
    to turn to the courts to tell the local authorities to obey the state
    laws. It’s embarrassing and scandalous.”

    That’s all right. It gives us plenty of precedent when it comes time for us to violate federal, state and local laws. Like the people of Colorado still getting their hands on 30-round magazines, or people everywhere smoking pot. Laws, what are they?

    http://strike-the-root.com/law

  2. On November 2, 2014 at 8:04 pm, Shackleford45 said:

    That’s why the 10th Amendment needs to be observed, AND, the 17th needs to be repealed. If the states appointed their senators (as the Founders intended) we’d actually have a republic, but we’ve “democratized” our country……to our own detriment.

  3. On February 14, 2015 at 12:15 am, John Walton said:

    I am occasionally reminded that there are a handful of us out here that actually understand this. Most people have no clue that Senators were appointed prior to the 17th. IMO. The 17th is the single biggest error ever placed upon the great document. Yes there was corruption at the state level because of if, but the fact that they thought going this route would fix that problem just created the K Street problem. I fear that we may be too far gone down the road towards despotism. The only remedy is if through states pulling their sacks out of the Federal and taking back some very simple ideals set forth in the Constitution.

    1. Re-Assert and make it known that the Constitution is Indeed the Supreme Law of the Land, but there has always been the 2 Caveats. A. The States Give the Federal Gov’t Power not the other way around.
    B. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.- these are the words of the tenth amendment. It does not get any clearer everything that is needed to know about the states power is here.

    2. Begin to Nullify and on a massive scale. I am not a fan of an Article V con con. This sounds like it could be an avenue, but I feel the risks far outweigh the potential benefit. With Nullification, as Jefferson said, ” Nullification it is th the rightful remedy”

    A glimmer of hope this past week the tenth amendment center reported on over 200 state laws are in moving through their respective legislatures. If this is not used exhaustively on an even more massive scale, I truly believe we are hurdling towards a second Civil War, or Revolution. More people are waking up every day from their long slumber and eventually there will be a singularity (possibly the economy??? Firearms confiscation?

    How close were we last year to a spark with Bundy Ranch? I honestly don’t think our elected officials have a clue regarding how close we came. Their arrogance blinds then.

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This article is filed under the category(s) Guns,Second Amendment and was published October 30th, 2014 by Herschel Smith.

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