Arizona Moves To Nullify Federal Gun Control Laws

Today, the Senate Rules Committee held that it was “proper for consideration” on the Senate floor, the last step in a three-committee path to get the bill to the full Senate.

This language puts the bill in harmony with recently amended Article 2, Section 3 of the Arizona Constitution, also known as Proposition 122, which voters approved last fall to enshrine a process to refuse state cooperation with unconstitutional federal acts in the state constitution.

SB1330 is similar to a bill that was signed into law in Idaho last year, and was passed by the Montana House this week. It has received support from Gun Owners of America and Arizona Citizens Defense League, the state’s preeminent pro-gun lobby.

“Passage of SB1330 will draw a line in the sand and ensure that the feds will have an extremely difficult time trying to get any new gun control measures enforced in Arizona,” said Scott Landreth of ShallNot.org. “is doomed in the Arizona Senate, so taking it one step at a time will set the foundation for more action in the future,” he said.  From there, Arizona gun rights activists will have something to build on until all federal gun control is where it belong – dead and gone.”

LEGAL AND EFFECTIVE

Based on James Madison’s advice for states and individuals in Federalist #46, a “refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union” is an extremely effectively method to bring down federal gun control measures because most enforcement actions rely on help, support and leadership in the states.

Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano agreed. In a recent televised discussion on the issue, he noted that a single state taking this step would make federal gun laws “nearly impossible” to enforce.

Refusing to participate with federal enforcement is not just an effective method, it has also been sanctioned by the Supreme Court in a number of major cases, dating from 1842.

The 1997 case, Printz v. US serves as the cornerstone. In it, Justice Scalia held:

The Federal Government may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command the States’ officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program. 

As noted Georgetown Law Constitutional Scholar Randy Barnett has said, “This line of cases is now considered well settled.”

MOMENTUM

Introduction comes at a time when several other states are considering similar bills, building momentum and support for the effort to block federal gun control at the state level. Similar bills have already been filed for 2015 in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Minnesota, Montana, and New Hampshire and several more states are expected to do the same. Since 2013, Idaho, Alaska and Kansas have already passed into law legislation that pushes back at federal gun control measures with this same strategy.

“We know from experience that when ten or more states pass laws that seek to block federal acts, the federal government has an extremely difficult time with enforcement,” said Michael Gibbs of ShallNot.org.

SB1330 now moves to the Arizona state Senate. It will likely move to consideration first under the Committee of the Whole, where debate and amendments can be brought up. The is potential for opposition to make behind-the-scenes efforts to block the bill from ever getting a vote, so Arizona residents are strongly urged to contact their state senator to support the bill today.

TAKE ACTION IN SUPPORT

In Arizona, follow all the steps to support this bill at THIS LINK

All other states, contact your state legislator and encourage them to introduce similar legislation to stop federal gun control at this link.