A growing number of stateshave grown tired of the overreaching federal government and the smothering regulations promulgated daily by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.
States are beginning to rebel against the federal government, using their Tenth Amendment protected state’s rights and sovereigntyto nullify federal laws and regulations that they deem to be unconstitutional and incompatible with their state’s laws.
Although there is literally an endless list of federal laws, rules, and regulations made by a variety of federal departments and agencies, the vast majority of which could be deemed an unconstitutional encroachment on the rights of states and people, the current brewing rebellion is mostly occurring in regards to Obamacare and federal gun control laws.
There is also a separate movement growing that is seeking to form a Convention of States for the purpose of adding some amendments to the Constitution designed to rein in the overspending and corrupt federal government.
Obamacare
There are at least nine states that have taken steps to nullify Obamacare. They are able to do this by following a fairly simple four step process.
(Step 1) Ban state enforcement, participation, and material support.
(Step 2) Reject Medicaid expansion.
(Step 3) Protect residents from mandates.
(Step 4) Challenge the IRS’s illegal Obamacare taxes.
Some of the states that are taking the steps to fight back against Obamacare are Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolinaand Tennessee.
Gun Control
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees that the people’s right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Unfortunately, the federal government has either forgotten or is ignoring exactly what ‘shall not be infringed’ actually means. Over the course of history, numerous laws, statutes and regulations have been handed down from on high that do, in fact, infringe upon that basic, fundamental and inherent right of people to arm themselves.
Some states have taken steps to roll back gun control, both on the federal and local level, by overriding local ordinances, expanding gun rights, and passing legislation that nullifies federal laws within their borders, like the Second Amendment Preservation Act.
Basically, the Second Amendment Preservation Act reasserts the right of a state to determine what is best for its own citizens when it comes to gun laws. The Act declares that any and all federal laws that are viewed as unconstitutional or an infringement of the Second Amendment will be null and void within the state, and no agent or officer of the state may enforce, or cooperate with federal enforcement of, these gun control measures. Some states have even added criminal penalties to this act.
Some of the states that have passed or are considering legislation similar to the Second Amendment Preservation Act include Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouriand Tennessee, among others.
Convention of States
One final way that states can rebel against Obama and the federal government is through an Article V Convention of the States.
A Convention of States is based upon a provision within Article V of the Constitution, which deals with the amendment process. If 2/3 of states submit special applications, they can call for a convention that will propose new amendments to the Constitution through state delegates. If 3/4 of the state legislatures agree on the proposed amendments, they will become part of the Constitution, bypassing both Congress and the President.
A number of states have become involved in the process, and are at various stages of their consideration and application process for the Convention. As of right now, only a couple of states have actually completed the process, so a convention is not likely to happen anytime soon, but it is in the works.
States, and the people in them, need to stand up for their rights and declare their sovereignty to the federal government. The founders and framers knew what an overreaching and tyrannical government could be like, and tried to prevent something similar from occurring in America when they wrote the Constitution.
Unfortunately, the federal government has mostly slipped the bounds that were set upon it by the Constitution, and has become unmoored from it’s foundation. It is time for the states and people to reassert their rights and authority over the federal government, which is supposed to work for us.