The Fight To Limit Federal Power Begins (First Shots Fired At Montana And Tennessee)

The Founders were very wise to include the Tenth Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Specifically, the Tenth Amendment states:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

This clearly says that the only powers the Federal Government should ever have are those powers specifically defined in the Constitution.

But the Federal Government has been overstepping its powers in recent years, going all the way back to the 1930s. Today, with at least 36 states declaring sovereignity under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, the fight for power, a fight between the Statists of Federal Government and the people of the United States who want as little government interference as possible, has begun.

Two of the states that made their declarations are Tennesee and Montana. Both states have essentially said that under the Tenth Amendment, and re-inforced by the Heller vs. Washington D.C. decision, they will not allow Federal gun control laws to override duly passed state laws.

Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act

Montana Firearms Freedom Act

Well, an unelected bureaucrat named Carson W. Carroll of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has decided that he has somehow been empowered to overturn these two state legislatures all by himself.

He has put out two open letters to the states of Montana and Tennessee essentially saying that his bureaucracy can trump state law and the Tenth Amendment be damned.

An excerpt:

The passage of the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act, H.B. 1796, 106th Leg. (Tenn. 2009) 1796 (”Act”), effective June 19, 2009, has generated questions from industry members as to how this State law may affect them while engaged in a firearms business activity. The Act purports to exempt personal firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition manufactured in the State, and which remain in the State, from most Federal firearms laws and regulations. However, because the Act conflicts with Federal firearms laws and regulations, Federal law supersedes the Act, and all provisions of the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act, and their corresponding regulations, continue to apply.

The letter to Montana is similarly worded, almost an exact copy.

This does not bode well. If unelected Federal bureaucrats feel that they can trample on the Constitution anytime they wish, then we will no longer be a Republic. The Oath of Office for the President states that he will "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Where is Barack Obama now? Allowing an unelected bureaucrat to do something like this is a violation of that oath. As I wrote before, the politicians in D.C. ignore this at the peril of the Union.

We cannot allow the Federal Government to intrude this deep into our lives. The more power they take for themselves, the fewer and smaller our freedoms become.

You can access the letter to Tennessee on-line here:

Open Letter To All Tennessee Federal Firearms Licencees

And you can access the letter to Montana on-line here:

Open Letter To All Montana Federal Firearms Licensees