Oregon Moves to Nullify Gun Laws

Bill Puts Second Amendment Beyond Reach of Federal Government

The text of the ordinance declares as null and void “any regulation of the right to keep and bear arms.” It also empowers the county sheriff to ascertain whether any regulation — local, state, or federal — infringes unconstitutionally on the right of citizens to be armed.Perhaps most importantly, the new law forbids the expenditure of county funds or other resources on the executing of Oregon’s recently reinforced background checks for anyone attempting to purchase a firearm.

According to the story in The Oregonian, over 60 percent of voters support the Second Amendment Preservation Act. The proposal made its way to the ballot as a result of dedicated efforts by advocates to secure the signatures of a sufficient number of registered voters to put the measure before the people.

The bill also proves that one of the most effective ways to prevent small and large attacks on liberty is through nullification, which Coos County put into place with the proposition that a local entity can hold as null, void and of no legal effect any act of any government body that exceeds the boundaries of its constitutional powers.  That has certainly been the inclination of the Obama administration over the last several years.  The Coos County bill will make that type of overreach much more difficult to effect.

At its founding, the federal government understood that their power derived from the states, and that power was given so that the federal government could act on behalf of the various states. However, in recent years the federal government seems to have forgotten that the power given by the states was limited and that all powers not clearly enumerated in the Constitution as federal powers devolve back to the states. The idea seems almost quaint given the current federal overreach in everything from health care to free speech rights.

It is now time for the people to take back that authority, and it seems the citizens of Coos County are leading the way. It will be interesting to see what other local governments pick up the baton and how the federal government will respond.

Source: The New American
Photo: Loren Kerns on Flickr