Monday, April 06, 2009

Remember the 10th Amendment?

The 10th Amendment reads thus:

The 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

The State of Montana is on the edge of testing that sucker.

Montana-made guns may form the basis for a court showdown over states' rights if the governor signs a bill to release some firearms in the state from federal regulation.

The proposed law aims to exempt firearms, weapons components and ammunition made in Montana and kept in Montana from federal gun laws. Since the state has few gun laws of its own, the legislation would allow some gunowners and sellers in the state to skirt registration, licensing requirements and background checks entirely.

The real target, though, is the U.S. Supreme Court.

...In particular, they plan to find a "squeaky clean" Montanan who wants to send a note to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives threatening to build and sell about 20 such rifles without federal dealership licensing. If the ATF tells them it's illegal, they will then file a lawsuit in federal court — with any luck triggering a legal battle that lands in the nation's highest court

No single agency deserves that test more than BATF/E; and no rulings need testing more than SCOTUS' "interstate commerce" series--well, aside from Roe, which was just plain garbage, any way you want to analyze it.

HT: Lott

2 comments:

Al said...

I do, but I'm not sure the courts will pay any more attention to what the 10th really means than they have lately with the 5th where it says: "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC said...

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. It should be a convenience store, not a government agency.