Lawmakers in the Last Frontier have passed a bill protecting the right of their citizens to keep and bear arms from federal infringement. Both houses of the Alaska state legislature approved HB 69 and the act now only lacks the governor’s signature before it becomes state law.
Although part of the measure was amended somewhat by the state senate — a provision that would have charged federal agents with a felony if they attempted to enforce federal gun grabs within state borders — the bill remains a bold statement of state sovereignty and resistance to federal plans to disarm civilians.
Specifically, the act forbids “state and municipal agencies from using assets to implement or aid in the implementation of the requirements of certain federal statutes, regulations, rules, and orders that are applied to infringe on a person’s right to bear arms.”
State officials are expressly forbidden from trying to enforce any act of Congress or any presidential executive order that would reduce the scope of the right to keep and bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment.
Apart from those guaranteed by the Second Amendment, the Alaska act shields other fundamental rights from federal encroachment, as well.
For example, if signed by the governor, the bill would safeguard citizens’ rights to due process and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The latter is accomplished by the act’s prohibition on the implementation of the REAL ID Act passed by Congress in 2005.
Furthermore, all unconstitutional “federal statutes, regulations, rules, and orders” are declared “unenforceable” in Alaska. Should any such measure be attempted to be imposed upon citizens, the state attorney general is ordered to mount a legal challenge to the “federal statute, regulation, rule, or order that violates the rights of a resident of the state.”
With passage of HB 69, Alaska’s state legislators have taken the right tack in forcing the federal beast back inside its constitutional cage.
The first step in thwarting the federal government’s goal of consolidating all power in Washington is to remember that any federal act, regulation, or order that exceeds the constitutional limits on federal power has no legal effect. States can — must — courageously refuse to enforce those acts using the historically, legally, and constitutionally sound principle of nullification.
Nullification recognizes the right of states to invalidate any federal measure that a state deems unconstitutional. Nullification is founded on the fact that the sovereign states formed the union, and as creators of the compact, they hold ultimate authority as to the limits of the power of the federal government to enact laws that are applicable to states and their citizens.
For years, state representatives, governors, and wary citizens have sifted through the various legal methods available to combat economic enslavement and the federal government’s intrusions into every aspect of our lives. Many are embracing nullification, recognizing it as the preferred weapon in the fight against federal oppression.
As the United States of America is maneuvered closer and closer to an economic and social abyss, the unavoidable consequences of this decline are becoming familiar to all of us. Sadly, many young people, whose future is being mortgaged by those determined to perpetuate never-ending war and ever-expanding national debt, are awakening to a sense of their dire situation. To their credit, many of them have turned to the history of our nation to locate a lever for braking the runaway train of federal abuses carrying states and citizens toward economic and political slavery.
A similar bill protecting the right of Alaskans to own knives has also passed the legislature and joins HB 69 on the desk of Governor Sean Parnell. As reported by AmmoLand:
After two years of effort, Knife Rights is very pleased to announce that the Alaska Legislature passed HB33, the comprehensive Knife Rights Bill, and it is now on its way to Governor Sean Parnell.
HB33 repeals the ban on the possession of switchblade (automatic) knives and enacts Knife Law Preemption, repealing all existing local restrictions on knives and preventing any new local knife laws from being enacted in Alaska.
Although liberty-minded Alaskans are right to praise their state legislators for passing bills protecting their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, their right to due process, and their right to be safe from unreasonable searches and seizures, now is not the time to rest.
The governor has not indicated whether he will sign HB 69 (or HB 33, for that matter) and unfortunately, there is very recent precedent for a state executive vetoing such measures.
As The New American reported, on March 28, Montana Governor Steve Bullock vetoed a nullification bill protecting the Second Amendment rights of Montanans, a measure very similar to the Alaskan act.
With that in mind, Alaskans are encouraged to contact Governor Parnell and ask him to stand with their state lawmakers in defense of the Constitution and sign HB 69 and HB 33 immediately.
Photo of Alaska State Capitol in Juneau
Joe A. Wolverton, II, J.D. is a correspondent for The New American and travels frequently nationwide speaking on topics of nullification, the NDAA, and the surveillance state. He can be reached at [email protected].
