HB223 By Representatives Hanes, Holmes, Wadsworth, Sorrell, Whorton, Mooney, Dismukes and Easterbrook RFD Public Safety and Homeland Security Rd 1 11-FEB-20

SYNOPSIS: This bill would create the Second Amendment Preservation Act to protect the right to keep and bear arms.

Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose.

The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

Relating to firearms; to create the Second Amendment Preservation Act to protect the right to keep and bear arms; and in connection therewith would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:

Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Second Amendment Preservation Act.

Section 2. The Legislature finds and declares that:

(1) The Legislature is firmly resolved to support and defend the United States Constitution against every aggression, either foreign or domestic, and is duty-bound to watch over and oppose every infraction of those principles which constitute the basis of the Union of the States, because only a faithful observance of those principles can secure the nation's existence and the public happiness.

(2) Acting through the United States Constitution, the people of the several states created the federal government to be their agent in the exercise of a few defined powers, while reserving to the state governments the power to legislate on matters which concern the lives, liberties, and properties of citizens in the ordinary course of affairs.

(3) The limitation of the federal government's power is affirmed under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people of the several states to the federal government, and all power not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution of the United States is reserved to the states respectively, or to the people themselves.

(4) Whenever the federal government assumes powers that the people did not grant it in the Constitution, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.

(5) The several states of the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their federal government. The government created by the compact among the states is not the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers granted to it by the Constitution because that would have made the federal government's discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of those powers. To the contrary, as in all other cases of compacts among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge itself and decide its mode and measure of redress. Although the several states have granted supremacy to laws and treaties made pursuant to the powers granted in the Constitution, that supremacy does not apply to various federal statutes, orders, rules, regulations, or other actions that restrict or prohibit the manufacture, ownership, and use of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition exclusively within the borders of Alabama. Those statutes, orders, rules, regulations, and other actions exceed the powers granted to the federal government except to the extent they are necessary and proper for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces of the United States or for the organizing, arming, and disciplining of militia forces actively employed in the service of the United States Armed Forces.

(6) The people of the several states have given Congress the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes," but regulating commerce does not include the power to limit citizens' right to keep and bear arms in defense of their families, neighbors, persons, or property, or to dictate what sort of arms and accessories law-abiding mentally competent Alabamians may buy, sell, exchange, or otherwise possess within the borders of this state.

(7) The people of the several states have also given Congress the power "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States" and "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof." These constitutional provisions merely identify the means by which the federal government may execute its limited powers and ought not be construed as to give unlimited powers, because to do so would be to destroy the balance of power between the federal government and the state governments. The Legislature denies any claim that the taxing and spending powers of Congress can be used to diminish in any way the people's right to keep and bear arms.

(8) The people of Alabama have vested the Legislature with the authority to regulate the manufacture, possession, exchange, and use of firearms within this state's borders, subject only to the limits imposed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Alabama of 1901.

Section 3. (a) All federal acts, laws, orders, rules, and regulations, 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 shall be 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.

(b) The federal acts, laws, orders, rules, and regulations referenced in subsection (a) include, but are not limited to all of the following:

(1) The provisions of the federal Gun Control Act of 1934.

(2) The provisions of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968.

(3) Any tax, levy, fee, or stamp imposed on firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition not common to all other goods and services that could have a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of those items by law-abiding citizens.

(4) Any registering or tracking of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition that could have a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of those items by law-abiding citizens.

(5) Any registering or tracking of the owners of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition that could have a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of those items by law-abiding citizens.

(6) Any act forbidding the possession, ownership, or use or transfer of any type of firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition by law-abiding citizens.

(7) Any act ordering the confiscation of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition from law-abiding citizens.

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the courts and law enforcement agencies of this state to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms from the infringements included in Section 3.

Section 5. No public officer or employee of this state shall have any authority to enforce or attempt to enforce any of the infringements on the right to keep and bear arms included in Section 3.

Section 6. Any official, agent, or employee of the United States government who enforces or attempts to enforce any of the infringements on the right to keep and bear arms included in Section 3 is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

Section 7. Any Alabama citizen who has been subject to an effort to enforce any of the infringements on the right to keep and bear arms included in Section 3 shall have a private cause of action for declaratory judgment and for damages against any person or entity attempting that enforcement.

Section 8. Although this bill would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds, the bill is excluded from further requirements and application under Amendment 621, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, because the bill defines a new crime or amends the definition of an existing crime.

Section 9. This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.

Firearms

Constitutional Law

Popular Names