Posted on 07/21/2009 8:18:35 PM PDT by FromLori
The Obama administration is raising the stakes in a fight over states' rights and firearm ownership by arguing that new pro-gun laws in Montana and Tennessee are invalid.
In the last few months, a grass-roots, federalist revolt against Washington, D.C. has begun to spread through states that are home to politically active gun owners. Montana and Tennessee have enacted state laws saying that federal rules do not apply to firearms manufactured entirely within the state, and similar bills are pending in Texas, Alaska, Minnesota, and South Carolina.
Yet the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Explosives now claims that that not only is such a state law invalid, but "because the act conflicts with federal firearms laws and regulations, federal law supersedes the act."
Tennessee's law already has taken effect. The BATF's letter on July 16 to firearms manufacturers and dealers in the state says "federal law requires a license to engage in the business of manufacturing firearms or ammunition, or to deal in firearms, even if the firearms or ammunition remain within the same state."
A similar letter was sent to manufacturers and dealers in Montana, where the made-in-the-state law takes effect on October 1, 2009. Neither law permits certain large caliber weapons or machine guns, and both would bypass federal regulations including background checks for buyers and record-keeping requirements for sellers.
While this federalism-inspired revolt has coalesced around gun rights, the broader goal is to dust off a section of the Bill of Rights that most Americans probably have paid scant attention to: the Tenth Amendment. It says that "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."
Read literally, the Tenth Amendment seems to suggest that the federal government's powers are limited only to what it has been "delegated," and the U.S. Supreme Court in 1918 confirmed that the amendment "carefully reserved" some authority "to the states." That view is echoed by statements made at the time the Constitution was adopted; New Hampshire explicitly said that states kept "all powers not expressly and particularly delegated" to the federal government.
More recently, federal courts have interpreted the Tenth Amendment narrowly, in a way that justifies almost any law on grounds that it intends to regulate interstate commerce. In the 2005 case of Gonzales v. Raich, for instance, the Supreme Court ruled that a person growing marijuana for her own medicinal use could have a "substantial effect on interstate commerce."
(In an impassioned dissent at the time, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote: "If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything -- and the federal government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers.")
Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, said in an interview with CBSNews.com on Monday that he expects to be facing off against the Obama administration in court soon. "We will find the right test cases to get us in court," he said.
Marbut believes that the letters were't that meaningful because they were addressed to gun manufacturers and dealers who already are licensed by the federal government. "Those people already are under the thumb of the Feds," he said. "We've assumed they wouldn't want to put their circumstances at risk in dabbling in the state-made guns business. The people who the letters are addressed to are pretty irrelevant to the whole discussion."
Translation: If you're a gunsmith talented enough to build a made-in-Montana gun under the state's forthcoming law, give Marbut a ring. Just don't be surprised if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Explosives is not entirely pleased.
Gosh...El Mariachi just whipped it out and plinked whoever annoyed him with no reaction.
Movies lie....:)
I’m embarrassed.
My dad made “sissy loads” for my .44 so I wouldn’t land on my ass in the next county.
He used to have a HUGE buddy and he took him plinking one day.
Crist asked to shoot the .44 mag and went home with a perfect impression of the hammer right in the middle of his forehead and mud on the seat of his pants.
[dad liked to “experiment” with loads]....:))
fwiw, a 450-500NEBP has over 150 FOOT POUNDS of RECOIL.
fwiw, Jim Corbett once shot a man-eating tigress literally out of HIS LAP with a similar pistol. - he said that he didn't even REMEMBER the muzzleblast or recoil. GEE, i wonder WHY not??? = LOL.
free dixie,sw
States need to Pass laws that resolve that the federal thugs have no authority to regulate instate medical care. Claim rights under the 10th amendment and prohibit federal laws from applying to their internal state matters.
do you have a model 29 or something else in .44???
fyi, "my beast" in the long ago days/DAZE when i carried a revolver every day was a 4" barreled Model 29 S&W, which i kept loaded with six 44SPL,250grain lead, semi-wadcutters. (i figured that anything that those wouldn't stop was a job for my 870 Remington pumpgun w/00buck AND the muzzleblast from .44MAG was TOO MUCH "for government work".)
free dixie,sw
States need to assert their rights to medical care and in state plans. Simply claim the power to regulate health care within their respective states. Tell Zero that he has no authority to take over in state health plans.
free dixie,sw
i suspect they will "sell like hotcakes", as the TOTAL federal excise tax will be 5.oo (they are considered to be a "smooth-bore PISTOL"/AOW. NOPE, such pistols are NOT "sawed-off shotguns","short barreled shotguns" OR "weapons made from a shotgun or rifle".)
further, with IC choke, the pellet-spread at 20M will be about 30" according to my best calculations. at night (when MOST home invasions occur) it's hard enough to hit ANYTHING coming out of the dark, W/O having to try to sight a pistol!!! thus, a shotgun loaded with #2 goose shot or #4 buck is "the REAL DEAL".
free dixie,sw
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