Arizona Lawmakers Considering Nullification Of Federal Gun Laws
Arizona lawmakers take aim at federal gun laws
Ronald J. Hansen, The Republic | azcentral.com
Arizona lawmakers moved closer to another legislative challenge to Washington, D.C., on gun rights Tuesday, giving preliminary approval to a bill that would authorize the state to ignore all new federal gun laws.
Described as the “Second Amendment Protection Act” by its main sponsor, Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City, an amended Senate Bill 1330 would ban the state from spending money on or helping enforce new firearms-related rules from Washington and would effectively presume any new federal moves on firearms are unconstitutional.
The bill could be an early attempt to make use of the voter-approved Proposition 122 which empowers the state to challenge federal matters it deems unconstitutional.
Along with Constitutional Carry, the other strong movement among Pro-Gun states has been nullification. Nullification essentially works by ignoring or refusing to obey federal gun laws.
There are currently two types of nullification. The first is for States to not offer any kind of support in enforcing Federal gun laws within their borders. If a Federal agency wants to enforce some kind of law against someone within the State borders, they rely very heavily on help and cooperation from the state. Without it, it makes their job extremely difficult to enforce such laws.
Another form of nullification is for the State to declare that Federal gun laws are not recognized; thus not able to be enforced within their borders. Some states have even threatened to arrest any Federal or local agent illegally enforcing gun laws within their state.
In either case, nullification is a controversial method that has yet to be tested. It presents considerable challenges because it does pit the State vs The Federal government in a pretty confrontational way. There is no doubt that eventually one of these nullification states will end up in court versus the Justice Department.
A lawsuit in this manner could reignite the conversation about State rights to self govern versus the overreach and power of the Federal Government. However, with growing Federal Gun laws, nullification is one of the only ways States have the ability to protect their local gun rights.
