Rebellion in America heats up as 5th state exempts guns
March 16, 2010 Statesman Sentinel · 10 Comments
By Bob Unruh – WorldNetDaily
A fifth state – South Dakota – has decided that guns made, sold and used within its borders no longer are subject to the whims of the federal government through its rule-making arm in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and two supporters of the growing groundswell say they hope Washington soon will be taking note.
South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds has signed into law his state’s version of a Firearms Freedom Act that first was launched in Montana. It already is law there, in Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming, which took the unusual step of specifying criminal penalties – including both fines and jail time – for federal agents attempting to enforce a federal law on a “personal firearm” in the Cowboy State.
According to a report in the Dakota Voice, the new South Dakota law addresses the “rights of states which have been carelessly trampled by the federal government for decades.”
“As the federal government has radically overstepped is constitutional limitations in the past year or so, an explosion of states have begun re-asserting their rights not only with regard to firearms, but also in shielding themselves against government health care, cap and trade global warming taxes, and more,” the report said.
South Dakota’s law specifically notes “any firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in South Dakota and that remains within the borders of South Dakota is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.”
The provisions are nearly a mirror of the original law penned in Montana as well as those adopted in subsequent decisions by Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.
Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association spearheaded the Montana law and now describes himself as a sort of “godfather” to the national campaign.
He told WND the issue is not only about guns but about states’ rights and the constant overreaching by federal agencies and Washington to impose their requirements on in-state activities.
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He said he’s pleased South Dakota has become No. 5, and noted Alaska, Idaho and Oklahoma all have legislation that is approaching the stage of being presented to a governor to be made into law.
The Firearms Freedom Act website also reveals that other states either with pending legislation or pending plans include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
Marbut said Washington appears to be reacting the same way it did when states legalized marijuana or rejected the REAL ID national plan: by ignoring it.
“Ultimately we hope there will be lawsuits in other federal circuits, because there are two things that predispose the U.S. Supreme Court to take a case: the national scope of the issue and differing appellate decisions,” he told WND.
Michael Boldin of the Tenth Amendment Center said Washington likely is not anxious for a confrontation.
“I think they’re going to let it ride, hoping some judge throws out the case,” he said today.
“When they really start paying attention is when people actually start following the [state] firearms laws,” he said.
But when Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed his state’s bill into law, it included penalties for any agent of the U.S. who “enforces or attempts to enforce” federal gun rules on a “personal firearm” in Wyoming including up to two years in prison and up to $2,000 in fines.
The bellwether likely is to be a lawsuit pending over the Montana law, which was the first to go into effect.
As WND reported, the action was filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Montana Shooting Sports Association in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mont., to validate the principles and terms of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, which took effect Oct. 3, 2009.
Marbut argues that the federal government was created by the states to serve the states and the people, and it is time for the states to begin drawing boundaries for the federal government and its agencies.
The government’s filing in the case demands its dismissal, citing a lacking of “standing” for the plaintiffs and the court’s lack of “jurisdiction,” as well as the Constitution’s Commerce clause. The government filing argues, “The Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit have repeatedly held that even purely intrastate activities, such as those the MFFA purports to exempt from federal law, do affect interstate commerce and thus are within Congress’ power to regulate. As a result, even if plaintiffs had standing and jurisdiction existed, plaintiffs’ amended complaint fails to state a claim and must be dismissed.”
The Commerce Clause, however, can be interpreted to have been amended by the 10th Amendment, which is part of the Bill of Rights, adopted subsequent to the U.S. Constitution, Marbut explains.
His organization said, “The Commerce Clause was amended – by the 10th Amendment. It is a bedrock principle of jurisprudence that for any conflict between provisions of a co-equal body of law, the most recently enacted must be given deference as the most recent expression of the enacting authority. This principle is ancient. Without this principle, laws could not be amended or repealed.”
For example, U.S. courts repeatedly affirmed slavery before it ultimately was rejected.
There’s no question that the components of the Bill of Rights have authority: Just look at the First Amendment, Marbut explained.
In an analysis by the Tenth Amendment Center, the gun laws were described as a nullification.
“Laws of the federal government are to be supreme in all matters pursuant to the delegated powers of U.S. Constitution. When D.C. enacts laws outside those powers, state laws trump. And, as Thomas Jefferson would say, when the federal government assumes powers not delegated to it, those acts are ‘unauthoritative, void, and of no force’ from the outset,” Boldin wrote.
“When a state ‘nullifies’ a federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and inoperative, or ‘non-effective,’ within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as the state is concerned. Implied in such legislation is that the state apparatus will enforce the act against all violations – in order to protect the liberty of the state’s citizens,” he continued.
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I like the reference to Jefferson. He is supposed to have said:
“On every question of construction, let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.”
Back then, being a citizen soldier was a civic responsibility. There is no question that when government fears the people there is freedom. The opposite of course, is when government has authority to control every aspect of our lives by squeezing meaning out of texts that plainly mean something else. That government authority derives from reasonable fears held by a subjected people.
“Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.” – Thomas Jefferson
I am not a criminal and have served 21 yrs. in the U.S. Army and i feel that i should have a right to own and bare arms without having to carry a permit in order to protect myself and family and personal property!!!
this old salt approves of this posting
We already have the right to bare arms, it is the right to bear arms that is being discussed on this website. If you want to talk about bare arms go to a fashion page.
“As the federal government has radically overstepped is constitutional limitations in the past year or so…”
In the last “year or so?!” It has been radically overstepping its bounds for over a century, and that overstepping went into hyperdrive during the Bush administration. Obama is merely going along with the program.
Only a few more options left that possess true fundamental, historical, constitutional and revolutionary change in a peaceful way. Save the Republic to help save the world, pray for a miracle. This is going to require the unity of the people on a grand scale never before seen in American history.
A literal shock has to be sent through congress, the federal government, our financial & monetary institutions and the media. Our biggest foe and threat, other than our crooked politicians, corporate lobbyist and international bankers, is the media and ourselves.
At this point, it seems as either divine intervention is the only way out or we ran out of time and didn’t wake up fast enough. That this is already the fate, destiny and enslaved history and/or end, that we are responsible for creating. In my opinion anyway.
http://www.OperationPitchfork.BlogSpot.com
WHO EVER TRIES TO TAKE MY GUNS IS THE ENEMY………….PERIOD/////////////// ITS THAT SIMPLE.DRAW THE LINE BEFOR ITS TO LATE ID RATHER DIE AT MY DOORWAY THAN ON MY KNEES…….THIS IS MY COUNTRY AND I WILL DEFFEND IT FROM FORIGN OR DOMESTIC ENEMYS……..TO BAD THEY ARE HERE IN OUR OWN COUNTRY…..SEE YOU ON THE BATTLEFIELD……..
After Obama Health Care then what is next? I suspect it will be the giving of citizenship to 13 million illegal aliens so they can vote democrat in November. Along with that, since congress has 2 more years until 2012, it will be the contol of guns. Guns are the first thing tyrannys remove from the people.
America’s ancestors fled Europe & it’s tyranny & then fought tyranny in the American Revolution.
They would be proud of us cause we demonstrated in the streets (9/12 March in D.C.), wrote our representatives, sent letters/e-mails & make telephone calls & wrote numerous comments on blogs, but where did it get any of us? Our government has become a tyranny (booksbyoliver.com).
By joining and supporting organizations like Campaign for Liberty we can turn the tide back to a healthy respect for the Second Amendment.