By
Michael Boldin,
Tenth
Amendment Center
On
Thursday, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback received a letter from
Federal Attorney General Eric Holder threatening action against the
state should it enforce SB102 which Brownback signed into law last
month.
The
new law states, in part:
Any
act, law, treaty, order, rule or regulation of the government of the
United States which violates the second amendment to the constitution
of the United States is null, void and unenforceable in the state of
Kansas
The
bill also provides for criminal penalties against federal agents who
attempt to enforce specific federal laws on guns manufactured in the
state of Kansas and sold within the state – as the state takes the
position under the new law that the federal government does not
“interstate commerce” authority over such items.
In
his letter, Holder didn’t take too kindly to such a proposition.
He wrote:
“In
purporting to override federal law and to criminalize the official
acts of federal officers, SB102 directly conflicts with federal law
and is therefore unconstitutional.”
He
continued,
“Under the Supremacy Clause…Kansas may not prevent federal
employees and officials from carrying out their official
responsibilities. And a state certainly may not criminalize the
exercise of federal responsibilities. Because SB102 conflicts
with federal firearms laws and regulations, federal law supercedes
this new statute; all provisions of federal laws and their
implementing regulations therefore continue to apply.”
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