Posted on 07/18/2009 7:52:40 PM PDT by sovereignty2
A line was drawn in the sand last week - a response by the Federal Government to the State of Tennessee and their assertion of sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution.
Part of a series of moves by states seeking to utilize the Tenth Amendment as a limit on Federal Power, the Tennessee State Senate approved Senate Bill 1610, the Tennesse Firearms Freedom Act, by a vote of 22-7. It previously passed the House by a vote of 87-1.
The law states that “federal laws and regulations do not apply to personal firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition that is manufactured in Tennessee and remains in Tennessee. The limitation on federal law and regulation stated in this bill applies to a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured using basic materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant parts imported into this state.”
At the time of passage through the TN House and Senate, Judiciary Chairman Mae Beavers had this to say-
“Be it the federal government mandating changes in order for states to receive federal funds or the federal government telling us how to regulate commerce contained completely within this state – enough is enough. Our founders fought too hard to ensure states’ sovereignty and I am sick and tired of activist federal officials and judges sticking their noses where they don’t belong.”
The Federal Government, by way of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms expressed its own view of the Tenth Amendment this week when it issued an open letter to ‘all Tennessee Federal Firearms Licensees’ in which it denounced the opinion of Beavers and the Tennessee legislature. ATF assistant director Carson W. Carroll wrote that ‘Federal law supersedes the Act’, and thus the ATF considers it meaningless.
(Excerpt) Read more at tenthamendmentcenter.com ...
If the court is sitting in it's administrative aspect, then the Constitutional case will be considered under the presumption that the accused has voluntarily accepted federal administrative jurisdiction and it's transformation of all rights into privileges.
The accused will then be found guilty of violating the limits of his privileges, and if it is appealed all the way up, SCOTUS will find that there was no violation of authority in the restricting of those privileges, since the presumption of administrative jurisdication was never refuted.
No, the Gov. of Tn. said that. LOL
As far as the Feds threatening to withhod Fed funds to Tenn. the people of Tenn. can withold income taxes. No more money sent to D.C. So there.
I think you have nailed it. We will be controlled by the carbon/oxygen cycle --- all will wear CO2 monitors and will be taxed on the CO2 we produce.
Not immediately. It takes time to set up, design, and import from China.;)
I'll cop to cynicism. And I'll agree that breaking a law challenges it. But effectively? There was this little disagreement in the 1860's that indicates, at least to me, how seriously the Feds take this issue. I just don't see them backing down an inch, especially when it's so easy for their courts to dismiss it as frivolous (which is exactly the legal position of the ATF at this point, and they're not just namecalling - they mean it for the technical reason I described).
LOL - I'm not challenging you, or disagreeing with your point. But if Tennessee did that - actually did that - there would be civil war. Because the alternative would be the collapse of Federal power, and that wouldn't be accepted without, quite literally, a fight.
Different decision.
Bring it. Step out from behind the desk and inforce.
Actually, what would be subject to dismissal is Tennessee's defense. It's a Federal court issue concerning a pre-standing Federal law. So no matter what formi it takes, Tennessee (or a Tennessee litigant) would be arguing against that law, which means the Feds would take the position of applying the law in the first place, and see any response from Tennessee as a defense against violating it.
Its a state court matter. Screw the feds. They have not jurisdiction. The state should just rely on the state courts and tell the feds to get bent. 10th amendment is pretty clear.
The defendant would be free to argue that the Federal law was not Constitutional, on its face, and then cite, as evidence, the opinion of the Tennessee Legislature, through the enacted State Legislation.
It would be the Federal law, that would be tested in Federal Court, and the State Law would be used as evidence against the Constitutional legality of the Federal law.
It is the CITIZEN who must decide what to do.
Some brave soul needs to violate the Federal Law, and then use the State Law as support for the Constitutional argument that the Federal law is not valid.
Senate Bill 1610 (SB1610), the Tennesse Firearms Freedom Act, by a vote of 22-7. The House companion bill, HB1796 previously passed the House by a vote of 87-1.
Governor Breseden allowed the bill to become law without signing.
This week, Tennesse Governor Phil Bredesen signed House Joint Resolution 108 (HJR0108), authored by State Rep. Susan Lynn. The resolution “Urges Congress to recognize Tennessee’s sovereignty under the tenth amendment to the Constitution.”
The House passed the resolution on 05/26 by a vote of 85-2 and the Senate passed it on 06/12 by a vote of 31-0.
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/tag/tennessee-sovereignty/
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