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Federal Magistrate Says Commerce Clause Fantasy Trumps 10th Amendment
States seeking freedom from federal gun laws within their borders suffered a setback on Wednesday when federal magistrate Jeremiah Lynch recommended dismissal of a lawsuit that argues Congress has overstepped its constitutional authority with gun and ammunition control and gun owner information efforts.The magistrate sided with the U.S. Department of Just Us, which says courts have already decided that Congress can control the States through its power to regulate interstate commerce. His opinion now goes to the federal judge in Missoula hearing the case. The issue was launched last year with "Firearm Freedoms Act" laws in Montana and led to a lawsuit filed by gun advocates with the backing of Montana, Utah, Alabama, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and West Virginia. The states argue they should decide which rules would control the sale and purchase of guns and paraphernalia made within their borders. They say the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that the federal government only has those powers that are specifically given to it by the U.S. Constitution. "Because federal firearms laws are a valid exercise of Congress' power under the Commerce Clause as applied to the intrastate activities contemplated by the act, there is no 10th Amendment violation in this case," Lynch wrote. "We expected an adverse ruling in district court, which is fine, because it will give us control of the appeals process. We need to get in front of the Supreme Court," said a representative of the Montana Shooting Sports Association. "Truly we need to overturn a half century of Commerce Clause precedent and only the Supreme Court can do that." In the United States federal courts, magistrate judges are appointed to assist United States district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges are appointed by a majority vote of the federal district judges of a particular district, and serve a limited term of office. Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-09-03 |
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