"All acts, law, orders, rules, and regulations of the United States Government, whether past, present, or future, that infringe on the people's right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Arkansas Constitution, Article 2, [Section] 5, are invalid in this state, shall not be recognized by this state, are specifically rejected by this state, and shall be considered null and void and of no effect in this state."
--Arkansas Senate Bill 298
A handful of Arkansas lawmakers are just in time: Only days after two mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado, they're sponsoring bills that would keep local officers from enforcing federal gun laws.
It seems to happen with some regularity. In 2009, the last time a Democrat was newly elected as president, legislators from Alaska to West Virginia tried to pass nullifcation laws opposing federal gun rules and regs.
You can count on the timing. Just as you can count on ammunition disappearing in outdoor stores as people hoard shells and other ammo, waiting on the federales to confiscate everything. Which never seems to happen. Ever. The only thing that does: The cost of buying shells for your deer rifle go up as the Law of Supply and Demand kicks in. And state lawmakers gets a little publicity back home for their grandstanding.
It seems this legislative session has been one big race for the headlines, as many of our honorables in Little Rock make the highest priority not good governance, but in getting themselves in the news.
The latest: Lawmakers in the state Senate advanced two bills this past week that would "block local law enforcement in Arkansas from enforcing nearly all federal gun laws and regulations," according to our news story.
This isn't quite John C. Calhoun nullification, in the sense that the legislation wouldn't try to supercede federal law. But it's the next worst thing, because the goal is the same. These would-be state laws would prevent cops from enforcing federal laws, which might pass constitutional muster, technically, maybe, perhaps. (Some experts say there is nothing that forces states to enforce federal law. Others would disagree.)
One of the bills, by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, is titled the "Arkansas Sovereignty Act of 2021." John Moritz's story says it "would prohibit any law enforcement in the state from cooperating with federal authorities to enforce federal gun regulations or any other federal law that 'infringes' on rights under the Arkansas Constitution."
Specifically, local officers would be prohibited from enforcing the National Firearms Act of 1934, which regulates machine guns and sawed-off shotguns, and the Gun Control Act of 1968, which regulates the interstate sale of firearms.
And just to make things clear, there are criminal penalties and fines for working with the feds. Criminal penalties. For cops enforcing the law.
When it comes to these matters, and not just these matters, it would help to listen to the police, not the politicians. The Arkansas Sheriff's Association opposes SB298 by Mr. Stubblefield. The association's president Scott Bradley says the bill would endanger the working relationship between local cops and federal officers:
"We depend on our federal partners to chase people down in other states," he said. "We do a lot of good work with them."
The governor of Arkansas, who used to be a high-ranking prosecutor/federal employee/law enforcement officer of some note, told the press that "my first impression is that law enforcement will have significant constitutional concerns on those bills." Not only concerns, but confusion. When chasing a perp who just robbed a liquor store with a sawed-off shotgun, will beat cops have to call in to the FBI to see which law is being violated? Quick, dispatch, get us Washington!
Silly, yes. So is this whole debate. States have moved beyond nullification because 1) it can't get through the courts and 2) we've already fought a war settling the matter. So some lawmakers hope to simply prevent local police from enforcing the nation's laws.
The companion bills in the state House of Representatives didn't go as well. They died in committee. But the Senate has kept these bad ideas alive.
Instead, let's keep cooperation between law enforcement agencies alive. And kill these bills dead.