LITTLE ROCK, AR., Mar. 16, 2015 – Any new federal gun control measure would be effectively blocked in Arkansas if a bill filed last week passes into law.Introduced by Rep. David Meeks, House Bill 1601 (HB1601) would prohibit state and local agents from participating in “the enforcement or effectuation of any federal act, law, order, rule, or regulation issued, enacted, or promulgated on or after the effective date of this act regarding a personal firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition”.
The bill also prohibits the use of “assets, state funds, or funds allocated by the state to local entities, in whole or in part, to engage in activity that aids a federal agency, federal agent, or corporation providing services to the federal government in the enforcement or any investigation under the enforcement of a federal act, law, order, rule, or regulation issued regarding a personal firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition.”
In short, if the federal government attempts any further restriction on the right to keep and bear arms, whether by acts of congress, or unilateral moves by the ATF or the President, they’ll find no aid or support in Arkansas.
EFFECTIVE
Based on James Madison’s advice for states and individuals in Federalist #46, a “refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union” is an extremely effectively method to bring down federal gun control measures because most enforcement actions rely on help, support and leadership in the states.
HB1601 would leave the federal government to implement and enforce any such federal gun control measures on its own, with no state cooperation whatsoever. While the state of Arkansas would not actively interfere with federal enforcement efforts, its lack of participation and refusal to provide resources would effectively block such laws within Arkansas’ border. The federal government simply doesn’t have the resources to enforce these kinds of bans on its own.
The way this could play out, said David Kopel, an adjunct constitutional law professor at the University of Denver, is that if the federal government were to ban...
