Where does it say that State law supercedes Federal law??

[Brown-Bear]

I have been having a few discussions with other like minded individuals on the recent attempts of the BATFE to disregard the "State made" laws of firearms manufacture and sales in Motanna and Tennessee. I may have this incorrect, but I was under the impression that state law was above Federal law in most cases. Am I wrong?????

[Devrbd]

Commerce Clause:

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3:
The Congress shall have power to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.

So, if a handgun is made and sold within the same state and not "several states", the federal government has no jurisdiction in the matter.

[YosemiteSam]

Do you agree the definition of regulate is the same in Article 1 Sec 8 as the Second Amendment.

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, of the Constitution empowers Congress "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among several States, and with the Indian Tribes."

The 2nd Amendment reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary
to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and
bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Part of Federalist paper 29

"To oblige the great body of
the yeomanry, and of the other classes of the citizens, to be under
arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and
evolutions, as often as might be necessary to_acquire_the_degree_of_
perfection_which_would_entitle_them_to_the_charact er_of_a_
well-regulated_militia, would be a real grievance to the people, and a
serious public inconvenience and loss." (emphasis added)


A few other old uses of the word.

1) Horology: The adjustment of a portable timepiece so it will keep
time in the different positions in which it may be carried and kept (and
perhaps at the different temperatures which it may encounter.) A
(mechanical) wrist-watch which has been so designed and adjusted is said
to be "regulated" and likely has this word stamped or engraved on its
back-plate.

2)Firearms: The adjustment of a multi-barrel firearm (e.g., a double
barrelled shotgun) so that the barrels shoot to the same point-of-aim.
If such a gun (a double-barrelled shotgun or a three barreled "drilling")
fails to shoot properly, it is considered to be "out of regulation" and
needs to be "re-regulated".


Old Oxford Dictionary definitions.



definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary. "Regulated" has an
Obsolete definition (b) "Of troops: Properly disciplined" and then
"discipline" has a definition (3b) applying to the military, "Training
in the practice of arms and military evolutions; drill. Formerly, more
widely: Training or skill in military affairs generally; military skill
and experience; the art of war."


From my desk- Websters New International Dictionary 1921 Edition


To put in good order;to make regular;as to regulate a company's finances;to regulate the bowels.

To adjust,or maintain,with respect to desired rate,degree,or condition
__________________
NRA life member/ILA/PVA/Whittington Center sponsor
GOA member/Second Amendment Foundation member
NAHC life member/KECA founding committee member

[Philbert]

I have been having a few discussions with other like minded individuals on the recent attempts of the BATFE to disregard the "State made" laws of firearms manufacture and sales in Motanna and Tennessee. I may have this incorrect, but I was under the impression that state law was above Federal law in most cases. Am I wrong?????

As I understand it, it's actually the opposite: federal law supersedes state law (see Article VI):

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The federal .gov is in theory restricted to enumerated powers. The state laws are declaring "state made" firearms outside federal jurisdiction. They're not directly superseding federal law, just trying to say that the federal law does not properly apply in certain cases.

[LittleRedToyota]

I have been having a few discussions with other like minded individuals on the recent attempts of the BATFE to disregard the "State made" laws of firearms manufacture and sales in Motanna and Tennessee. I may have this incorrect, but I was under the impression that state law was above Federal law in most cases. Am I wrong?????

it doesn't. in fact, the supremacy clause of the constitution says the opposite--federal laws trump state laws.

however, what the federal government can do is limited to what the constitution specifically says it can do. and the constitution does not actually say anywhere that the federal government can regulate the possession, transfer, etc. of weapons within single state.

unfortunately, though, SCOTUS has developed an almost inconceivably intellectually dishonest "interpretation" of the commerce clause that allows the federal government to do just about whatever it wants.

that is the issue on which the cases that are probably going to happen as a result of these state firearms laws are going to turn. the question is not "does state law trump federal law?" the answer to that question is clearly "No". rather, the cases will turn on whether or not the commerce clause gives congress the power to regulate guns that never cross state lines.

unfortunately, given the history of SCOTUS and the commerce clause (most recently, and very relevantly, in gonzales v. raich), they will most likely rule that it does.

[Franky4Fingers]

I was under the impression that state law was above Federal law in most cases.

wow................Where in God's name would you EVER have gotten that idea?

[pirateron]

The outcome of the "war of northern aggression" sealed the right of the federal govt to trump States rights. Just look at the medical marijuana laws. A bunch of States have legalized it, but the feds still arrest those in possession with a prescription.

[X-Man]

It's found in one of the Amendments To The Constitution Of The United States Of America; the Tenth Amendment.

"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."

Further, the ONLY powers delegated to the Congress of the United States are to be found in the Constitution Of The United States, Article One, section Eight.

[Tacgunner]

It would be interesting to see dashcam footage of the BATF being arrested by State Police for interferring with a States firearm laws.

[BSH]

The commerce clause was amended by the government during the Roosevelt administration to extend Congress' regulatory power over ALL commerce. Congress passed it, the President signed it, the courts upheld it. No messy ratification necessary.