State legislators seek to block any new federal gun laws

In Alaska, state House Speaker Mike Chenault says he's heard complaints from all over the state about the federal government "trampling" on gun owners' 2nd Amendment rights. In Pennsylvania, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe declares that gun control advocates have "gone far enough." And in North Dakota, state Rep. Roscoe Streyle says, "We know what's right for our citizens." They are among a wave of lawmakers in at least 20 states who are pushing back against the Obama administration's drive to pass tougher gun laws after the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. They seek to exempt their states from any new federal regulations. Even before Congress votes on new gun laws, some state legislators are intent on promoting bills like the Firearms Freedom Act — introduced in Alabama, Michigan and Oklahoma, among other states — based on a theory that guns and ammunition made and kept within state borders do not involve interstate commerce and are out of Washington's reach. Other bills — such as Pennsylvania's proposed Right to Bear Arms Protection Act — would make it a felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison for government officials to attempt to enforce new federal gun restrictions in their states. A Tennessee bill declares that any federal action seeking to restrict gun ownership in the state "shall be deemed an intentional violation of state sovereignty and shall be unenforceable within the borders of Tennessee."...more