Loading up the Firearms Protection Act

Texas Republican representative Steve Toth is gunning for a showdown with federal gun laws in anticipation of new, tighter restrictions on gun ownership. Picture your favorite Clint Eastwood movie, but inside of a Texas courtroom.

"At some point there needs to be a showdown between the states and the federal government over the Supremacy Clause. It is our responsibility to push back when those laws are infringed by King Obama," said Toth.

The "Supremacy Clause" that Roth is referring to is a slice of the Constitution that says that federal laws are "the supreme law of the land," ostensibly meaning that what the federal government says trumps whatever states say.

Reaction in Texas and some other states to Obama being elected was intense, even giving rise to petitions for Texas to secede from the union. While secession will probably not be pursued as a real option, a challenge to the supremacy clause over gun rights could be more of a stark reality. Wyoming has already proposed a similar measure to keep federal hands off of its guns.

If Toth's proposal were to become law in Texas, any federal official entering Texas and trying to enforce a federal executive order about semi-automatic weapons would be subject to criminal prosecution, including hefty fines or prison time.

Wow! I'd be fascinated to see how the courts dealt with this if it passed and at some point was enforced. And I think it speaks to the larger shift going on with social issues across the country, one that follows roughly along the lines of how we as a nation voted in the last election.

Northeastern and coastal populations, along with large population centers, largely voted to the left, while central and less densely populated states tended to favor the right. If this kind of challenge to the supremacy clause were upheld, how would that impact new state laws on same-sex marriage or on marijuana legalization?

For now, though, we'll have to see if Roth can load enough support into the barrel of his bill.

Image courtesy of Jon Wiley via flickr