States Pursue Laws To Nullify Federal Gun Control

Legislators in Montana and Arizona recently advanced laws that will pre-emptively nullify any future gun bans that are passed at the federal level.

The Montana bill passed the state’s house of representatives last week and is now under consideration in the Senate. It will prohibit local police from enforcing any federal weapon or magazine ban.

A similar bill in Arizona, recently approved by a Senate committee, also outlaws the enforcement of federal gun laws. It also takes things a step further by stripping funding for future federal investigations on gun-related issues.

The sponsor of the Arizona bill, State Sen. Kelli Ward, said: “The intent of the law is to allow Arizona to function under Arizona’s own power and not allow any current or future laws that go into effect…to affect people in Arizona.”

Both bills are part of a growing movement to limit the federal government’s ability to regulate and micromanage voters at the state level. The Hill recently reported that more than 200 “nullification” bills are currently under consideration in state legislatures around the country, on topics ranging from FDA approval of experimental medicine to the legalization of marijuana. Eight of the bills specifically target gun rights.

A spokesman for the Tenth Amendment Center, which advocates for nullification bills, said that the motivation behind the bills is simple: the federal government has gotten completely out of control.

“People are becoming more and more concerned about the overreach of the federal government,” said Tenth Amendment Center spokesman Mike Maharrey. “They feel the federal government is trying to do too much, it’s too big and it’s getting more and more in debt.”