The following from FOX News
Texas bill would block police from enforcing new federal gun laws
AUSTIN, Texas – Under a measure advancing in the
Texas Capitol, local police officers could be convicted of a crime for enforcing
any new federal gun control laws.
Rep. Steve Toth, a newly elected Republican from the Woodlands, said his
proposal would prevent officers from carrying out any future federal orders to
confiscate assault rifles and ammunition magazines.
"There's a federal law, there's a 30-round magazine right in front of you -
what do I do?" Toth said in an interview. The measure known as the Firearm
Protection Act "answers that question in spades," he said. It moved Tuesday to
the House Committee on Federalism.
President Barack Obama has proposed federal laws banning such weapons, but no
such laws currently exist.
Toth's proposal would create a Class A misdemeanor for police officers
enforcing any new federal gun regulations. It also would establish cause for the
state attorney general to sue anyone who seeks to enforce new federal gun
regulations. It is one of several states-rights measures being offered by
conservative state lawmakers nationwide in response to federal gun control
proposals.
Courts have long upheld the federal government's right to enact new laws,
which generally supersede state law. Asked how legal precedent for the supremacy
of federal law would affect enforcement of his bill, Toth said he expects a
legal challenge.
"It may end up in the Supreme Court," he said.
Several recently elected lawmakers gathered at a news conference Tuesday with
Toth and Richard Mack, a former Arizona sheriff who successfully contested
implementation of certain provisions of the Brady gun laws in the 1990s.
"The federal government is not our boss," Mack said. "If there's any place
that that's applicable and true, it's the state of Texas."
Referring to Greg Abbott, the attorney general who helped draft the bill,
Mack added: "And we've got a great attorney."
Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Collin County and the most senior lawmaker who stood
in support of the proposal, said it could become law "if it's not demagogued as
an anti-Obama bill."
"This new group of freshman coming in, they're pretty bold," said Laubenberg,
who is in her sixth term. "Pretty dynamic. Not just going to sit and let things
happen."
Abbott's office confirmed its role in crafting the legislation but distanced
itself from the criminal penalties it contains.
"The attorney general does not support a law that would provide any criminal
penalties for police officers," said Daniel Hodge, Abbott's top
assistant.
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wake up call not heard...↓
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