"Lawmakers seek to block federal gun laws"

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: There’s some interesting stuff going around the states about federal gun laws. The Fulton Sun ran a banner headline that sums it up: “Lawmakers seek to block federal gun laws.” Long story short, a bunch of state senators have filed a bill that “nullifies” any executive orders or laws that put controls on guns or gun paraphernalia. There have been similar introductions in Wyoming and Texas. So, apparently, this is one of those bills written by some central office for locals to tweak. The senators mentioned in the article—Kurt Schaefer and Bryan Munzlinger—are smart guys, both of whom may have been headed for office in D.C. if they don’t take the dead-end, no-nothing trail blazed by Todd Akin. Rather than defending the constitution, these laws would simply create safe havens for the bad guys. If, say, high-capacity clips holding a bunch of ammunition are banned by federal law, but some crazy wanted to try them out in a Wal-Mart, well, hey, just commit the crime next to the state line and leave the revenuers shaking their fists, like grandpa talked about from the prohibition days. Here in Missouri, the Civil War is still fresh in our minds…we sometimes call it the war for states’ rights. At the time it was fought, Missouri’s old southern culture was being intruded upon by northerners. More northerners were moving here than southerners, and the little Dixie families were feeling the threat. Slavery was only a small part of the story here. The rest was about who’s got the power…states or feds? Today, it looks like the true power comes from some central office. Time to start thinking for yourselves, fellas.