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In October 2017, in direct defiance of POTUS Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” through the enforcement of all federal immigration laws, then-California Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark legislation declaring the entire state a sanctuary for illegal aliens.
The Democrat super-majority ruling the Golden State celebrated the legislation as a rebuke of the president, but in reality, what SB 54 really does is hinder the federal government’s immigration authority.
No matter, as The Los Angeles Times reported then:
Legal experts have said federal officials may try to block the law in court to keep it from being implemented. Some doubt such challenges would be successful, pointing to the 10th Amendment and previous rulings in which courts have found the federal government can’t compel local authorities to enforce federal laws.
It’s interesting that a Left-wing paper would provide Leftist Democrats with constitutional cover, considering that the Donkey Party doesn’t concern itself about what our founding document says when it comes to the Second Amendment.
For decades Democrats have ignored a key provision of the Second Amendment — the part where it says the right “shall not be infringed” — when passing what they have always characterized as “common-sense gun laws.”
But the fact of the matter is, there is no such thing: Any law that restricts or otherwise regulates the manner in which an American citizen, regardless of any other mitigating factor, can obtain, own, carry, and “bear” a firearm is unconstitutional, period.
And now, finally, pro-Second Amendment lawmen and lawmakers are reasserting and reinforcing this right in the same way the Left has thwarted federal laws governing immigration and recreational use of marijuana: Nullification.
As reported by The Free Thought Project, lawmakers in Texas have introduced a “gun sanctuary” bill that would apply to the entire state. If it passes, it would essentially nullify nearly all federal gun control laws within the state:
Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) filed Senate Bill 378 (SB378) on January 17. The bill would prohibit any state government agency, personnel or public funds from enforcing any federal gun control regulation or law “if the federal statute, order, rule, or regulation or international law imposes a prohibition, restriction, or other regulation, such as a capacity, size, or configuration limitation, that does not exist under the laws of this state.”
Legal opinions on this are likely to be all over the place, and of course, the Democrat Left will decry this bill as the first step toward anarchy. But by any legitimate measure, we’ve already reached that point.
Despite the Constitution’s “Supremacy Clause,” which states clearly that federal laws supersede state laws and even state constitutions, Democrat-run states and cities are getting away with not simply ignoring federal immigration laws but actively thwarting federal immigration officials (such as refusing ICE detainer requests to turn over suspected criminal aliens). Many of the same states have also given the middle finger to federal prohibitions against recreational marijuana use.
So while law-and-order conservatives are likely to find the prospect of widespread nullification distasteful, at this point we really don’t have much choice: It’s either adopt the Left’s tactic or be “ruled” instead of governed. (Related: As Trump admin loses another ‘sanctuary city’ case, the Left is setting the stage for a HUGE conservative backlash.)
At least conservatives have the Constitution on their side: Gun control laws are “infringements” on the Second Amendment, period. Some lawmakers in Texas, along with sheriffs in at least four other states, have come to understand that this key provision matters in the face of a new onslaught of Democrat measures aimed at further restricting citizens’ right to keep and bear firearms.
Let Texas sound the gun sanctuary rallying cry. Let the Lone Star State’s effort spread to hundreds of other jurisdictions.
Read more about how the effort to protect gun rights and uphold the Second Amendment is spreading by visiting Guns.news and SecondAmendment.news.
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