I admire the sentiment but . . .
TN Gubernatorial Candidate Zach Wamp on the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act:
The 14-year congressman declared that a recent assertion by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act had no force of law was “overreach.” The Firearms Freedom Act stated that federal laws do not apply to firearms, accessories or ammunition that is manufactured in Tennessee and that do not pass its borders.
Wamp said that the ATF’s decision was another reason to “meet them at the state line” and assert state sovereignty. Gov. Perry in Texas and Gov. Wamp in Tennessee are going to stand and say ‘the hell you say,’” Wamp said.
The act has, simply, no chance of standing up to a court challenge. There are better second amendment policies to challenge.
August 12th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Perhaps not, but it may be worth seeing how much the ATF wants to press the issue. I suspect that this may be an area where they just resolutely ignore the matter, especially as I suspect that Tennessee already has laws banning RPGs, restricting machine guns, and so on. It may mean that some Tennesseeans are able to get suppressors or AR lowers without having to fill out federal forms (and pay federal taxes), but there shouldn’t be a significant obvious difference.
Of course, if microstamping and gun possession taxes are looming then that’s a different matter entirely, isn’t it?
August 12th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I like the way Wamp is thinking. Wouldn’t it be lovely for TN to be THE state that the liberals hate the most. First in freedom, lowest in taxes, the smallest government with Southern hospitality thrown in on top. Yep, that’s the TN I’d like to see.
August 12th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Nice rhetoric. Too bad Rep Wamp can’t be trusted after voting for the bailout.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
this doesn’t belong in the courts, except at the trials of the various federal agents who get arrested at gunpoint for attempting to violate the laws of the state.
August 12th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Again, for those of you not paying attention, this has nothing to do with the Second Amendment at all. This is about the 9th and 10th Amendments, and how individual states apply their civil rights laws to different events. The right to keep and bear arms is merely the most obvious front to challenge the Federales on.
A failure to support this act is a total abandonment of the 10th amendment, and in essence a dissolution of the very notion of federalism. You may as well disband state legislatures and gubernatorial seats all together.
Some of you may find this shocking, but there are things in politics and law more important than gun rights.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:43 am
no argument here on the main premise Matt. However without gun rights none of the other “more important” things are achievable.