Help Squash Federal Encroachments in the Grand Canyon State
Arizona Moving to Block Federal Gun Control!
Last election, Arizona joined the rest of the nation in sending a forceful message that it was sick and tired of Washington lawlessness — and of a President who thinks he is above the law and the Constitution.
Shockingly, Barack Obama’s response to America’s repudiation has not been introspection or remorse, but, rather, an even more ruthless and lawless seizure of power.
Fortunately, freedom-loving states like Arizona are not defenseless against Obama’s petty despotism. And two bills expected to soon come before the full Arizona Senate will make it clear that the Grand Canyon State is not going to put up with Obama’s Third World-style governance.
The first bill, SB 1330, is modeled after legislation that has been enacted in several states across the country.
The bill would prohibit Arizona officials from enforcing a “federal act, law, order, rule or regulation” that is “in violation of the 2nd Amendment.” Unless a legislator has heartburn over the Second Amendment itself, this shouldn’t create a problem.
The legislation would prohibit Arizona officials from being conscripted to enforce these unconstitutional laws — something that shouldn’t be too radical of a concept, given that even the Supreme Court affirmed the right of states to rebuff the feds in the Printz case (1997).
The bill would do this by stripping funds — and removing authority — from Arizona jurisdictions and officials who violate the provisions of the text.
The second bill, SB 1384, would require most federal agents operating in Arizona to get advance permission of the elected county sheriff before making an arrest, search, or seizure. Legislative exceptions would allow things like border enforcement, policing in federal enclaves, and “hot pursuit.”
We saw in places like Ruby Ridge and Waco how horribly wrong things can go when arrogant feds, operating outside their element, fail to properly use the expertise of local law enforcement officials with intimate knowledge of the circumstances.
It is time for Arizona to join the list of freedom-loving states who say, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “No more” to federal infringements of the Constitution with the complicity of the state of Arizona.
So let’s encourage Senators to move this bill through the Senate and send it over to the other chamber.