I was reading this well written article from the Washington Times regarding the beating that the 2^nd Amendment has taken this week. Maryland and Connecticut have passed restrictive gun laws that are blatant infringements of the 2^nd Amendment. And the President is planning on signing the U.N. Arms Control Treaty. Despite the fact that the Senate won’t ratify the treaty he is going to sign because it is also a blatant infringment of the 2nd Amendment.

The President publicly is telling people that their worries about gun grabbing are silly. Here is a quote from a recent speech form the President:

“Well, the government is us. These officials are elected by you. They are elected by you. I am elected by you. I am constrained, as they are constrained, by a system that our Founders put in place. It’s a government of and by and for the people.”

The author of this article accurately and savagely deconstructs this typically vapid argument by Obama.

“One of the constraints on the federal government is the doctrine of enumerated powers, which says every act of Congress must be justified by a specific constitutional grant of authority. Where is the clause that empowers Congress to say how many rounds you can put in a magazine or whether your rifle can have a barrel shroud? Furthermore, as Obama surely has heard by now, there is this thing called the Second Amendment, and it is hardly frivolous to argue than an arbitrary and capricious piece of legislation like the “assault weapon” ban Obama supports would violate the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Yet to Obama’s mind, anyone who makes such an argument is one of those “people who take absolute positions” and therefore can be safely ignored.  After all, the government is us.”

I think it is crystal clear that, despite the rhetoric about “constraints”,  that the President and his minions will gleefully violate the 2^nd Amendment to get the kind of gun control measures they want. And make no mistake; the ultimate goal of gun control zealots is to rob you of your God given right, which is codified in the Constitution, to protect you and your family from aggressors including a potentially oppressive government.

While two more states have gleefully agreed to violate the rights of their citizens, the U.N Arms Control Treaty gives the President even more ability to circumvent the balance of power in this nation to violate your rights. While there is almost no chance of ratification, not ratifying a U.N. treaty hasn’t stopped President’s in the past from implementing U.N. sanctions without Senate approval through one of Obama’s favorite tricks.

The executive order.

President Clinton and Obama have both issued executive order that effectively implement key provisions of Agenda 21, despite the fact the Senate has never signed on to that agreement either. Once he signs the new U.N. Arms Control Treaty, that document opens a whole new avenue of gun grabbing mischief for President Obama. From the Washington Times article

“Despite gun-rights organizations’ efforts, the Obama administration refused to insist that the final treaty include recognition of citizens’ right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. The president has said he will sign the U.N. treaty, despite bipartisan opposition in the Senate to ratification.”

The Times article laments that it may take the courts a long time to catch up. That is why we need nullification NOW. The whole concept of nullification is simple: that an unconstitutional law is no law at all. It was devised by the author of the Declaration of Independence and the main author of the Constitution (Jefferson and Madison respectively) When they were faced with a Federal law that blatantly violated the 1^st Amendment in 1798…they penned the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and helped popularize the concept of state nullification.

The situation is similar. We either have a God given right to bear arms or we don’t. I will be going to every legislator in Virginia to ask them to carry a 2^nd Amendment Preservation in the 2014 session. A copy of the bill is below.

The time for wishful thinking and compromise are over. The assault on the 2^nd Amendment is clear and the danger is real. I have spoken to some politician’s that say they believe in the concept of nullification but think things “aren’t bad enough yet.” That argument is getting harder and harder to take seriously on the 2^nd Amendment. It is time to use every weapon in our arsenal to protect the right to bear arms; and one of the most powerful weapons available to us is state nullification.

The time is here and we need your help. Send this legislation to your State Senators and House of Delegates members and demand they carry this in the 2014 session. It is time to separate those who believe in our rights…and those that give those rights lip service. Here is a copy of the 2^nd Amendment Preservation Act to share with your legislator.

2^nd Amendment Preservation Act

The Commonwealth of Virginia declares that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms free from infringement; that federal acts, laws, orders, rules, regulations, bans, or registration requirements regarding firearms constitute an infringement on the individual right, are not authorized by the Constitution of the United States and violate its true meaning and intent as given by the founders and ratifiers, and are hereby declared to be invalid in the Commonwealth of Virginia and shall not be recognized by this Commonwealth and are specially rejected by this Commonwealth, and shall be considered null and void and of no effect in this Commonwealth..

It shall be the duty of the Legislature of this commonwealth to adopt and enact any and all measures as may be necessary to prevent the enforcement of all federal acts, laws, orders, rules, regulations, bans or registration requirements regarding firearms within the limits of this Commonwealth.

Any official, agent, or employee of the United States government or any employee of a corporation providing services to the United States government that enforces or attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the government of the United States in violation of this act shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not to exceed five (5) years, or by a fine not exceeding Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Any public officer or employee of the Commonwealth of Virginia or any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, that enforces or attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the government of the United States in violation of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed two (2) years, or by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both fine and imprisonment.

All you have to do is spend a few minutes watching/reading the news every day and it becomes increasingly (and painfully) obvious that our nation is heading towards disaster. And the root of the political problem is the Federal government acting outside of its Constitutional box.

Way outside of it.

That is one reason nullification is becoming an increasingly popular topic. The calls for using nullification are getting louder and coming from more quarters. The Walter E. Williams video and article we posted (yes that Walter E. Williams, the occasional guest host of the Rush Limbaugh show and renowned economics professor) a few days ago in defense of nullification has been one of the most widely viewed articles ever on our site.

And that speech, given before the South Carolina legislature, helped convincee a committee to vote yes on an Obamacare nullification bill.

State actions are occurring across the nation regarding nullification. Click here to keep up with the steady drumbeat of state and local legislation happening around the nation.

And although the state of Virginia has lagged behind, we are starting to see some progress. Republican committees in Culpepper and Roanoke are openly urging officials to use nullification. 3 LG candidates, Jackson, Stewart and Lingamfelter have stated they would support some level of nullification actions if elected. Jackson’s Defy Not Comply message has made this the focal point of his campaign. Some boards of supervisors are considering resolutions to demand the states protect their 2nd Amendment rights through nullification. Lingamfelter is a member of the General Assembly now and when I asked him if he would carry a 2nd Amendment nullification bill in the GA, he said that he would. I have sent him the model legislation.

And these aren’t weak (for show) nullification bills, but legislation that would aggressively defy the Feds through state and local interposition. It’s a far cry from when the mere mention of the word nullification or interposition sending all politicians scurrying for cover. And it is happening for one reason:

Because elected officials are hearing you demand it.

So talk to your state legislators and demand that they stand up for your rights, as is their sworn duty, and nullify unconstitutional actions. Nullification and interposition are the best tools available to help put the Feds back into their Constitutional box. And it will only become reality if YOU demand it.

Find  out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure  of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them. Frederick Douglas

Some great news on the nullification front.  In South Carolina, H. 1301 has moved out of a committee and will move forward in their legislature. The bill nullifies Obamacare statutes in South Carolina. I have posted a 20 minute video from Dr. Walter E. Williams, whose testimony was critical in the passage of this bill in South Carolina. You may heard Dr. Williams on the Rush Limbaugh show. He makes a beautiful argument for nullification; one that helped sway this committee. I urge you to take a few minutes and listen. It is a fabulously constructed argument. Every day the concept of nullification is gaining steam and getting more attention. All we need to do to fight tyranny is to look back at the Constitution and founders and the pathway to freedom is clear. We just need state reps to stand up for freedom today.  The arguments being made by the 10th Amendment Center, Tom Woods and Walter E. Williams are irrefutable, powerful and is the single most important tool that SHOULD be used to put the Federal government back in within it’s Constitutional box.

Chip Tarbutton

Arizona still has a strong and effective 2nd Amendment bill alive in their state legislature. Now there was a 2nd Amendment bill in Virginia in this session of the GA. A weak one that was of little practical affect. And that bill couldn’t even make it out of committee.

Pathetic.

Especially from the state that initially stood up for the Constitution in 1798 with the Virginia Resolution, opposing the patently unconstitutional Sedition Act. Arisona’s bill is effective because it includes interposition. That is the the state will charge anyone with a felony if they try to infringe your 2nd Amendment Rights. That would include Federal officers.

Sound extreme? Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (authors of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution) didn’t. They wrote in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions that federal laws that directly violate the Constitution are null and void. And since those laws are null and void, the states and the people are “duty bound” to resist those laws.  Resistance equals interposition.

And that is exactly what Arizona is proposing.  Read the Tenth Amendment Center’s excellent analysis of the situation below. And demand, for the next session, that legislators take their duty as Constitutional officials more seriously than their allegiance to Bill Howelll or the GOP.

Chip Tarbutton

“The Arizona State Senate Rules Committee held a vote on Senate Bill 1112 (SB1112), the 2nd Amendment Preservation Act. The bill would nullify federal attacks on the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms. It reads, in part:

B. AN OFFICIAL, AGENT OR EMPLOYEE OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT SHALL NOT ENFORCE OR ATTEMPT TO ENFORCE ANY ACT, ORDER, LAW, STATUTE, RULE OR REGULATION OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT RELATING TO A PERSONAL FIREARM, A FIREARM ACCESSORY OR AMMUNITION THAT IS OWNED OR MANUFACTURED COMMERCIALLY OR PRIVATELY IN THIS STATE AND THAT REMAINS EXCLUSIVELY WITHIN THE BORDERS OF THIS STATE.

The bill also requires state interposition to enforce the act via criminal charges for federal agents in violation:

E. A PERSON WHO VIOLATES SUBSECTION B OF THIS SECTION IS GUILTY OF A CLASS 6 FELONY.

The bill passed out of the public safety committee by a 4-2 vote in late January, and wasn’t brought to a hearing in the Rules Committee (which needs to vote YES on the bill before a full Senate vote can happen) until this afternoon.

Sources close to the Tenth Amendment Center inside the Capitol had learned late last week that two powerful Republican Senators, Adam Driggs and John McComish, we going to kill the bill by voting NO in the rules committee. Their concern? They had taken the position that nullifying unconstitutional federal gun laws with this bill would be “unconstitutional.”

After an urgent action alert sent out by the Tenth Amendment Center this past weekend, a number of grassroots activists started calling both Senators to let them know that they would demand nothing less than a YES vote on SB1112.  Quickly, the pressure started producing results.  Public response by the senators’ staff sounded a bit different this morning – and oddly similar to each other – “We aren’t doing anything to block this bill.”

While neither were doing anything to prevent the bill from getting a HEARING in the Rules committee, their promised NO votes on SB1112 would have done just what our action alert this weekend said they would have done – prevent the bill from a hearing or vote in the full state senate.  why?  Because no votes from both would have killed the bill completely by a vote of 2-5.

Instead, grassroots pressure and some deft political work by sponsors of the bill have given supporters of the 2nd amendment in Arizona a victory.  Today, when push came to shove, both Senators came in line and voted YES.  SB1112 passed the rules committee by a 4-3 vote The bill was passed out of rules with a note of “PFCA W/FL, proper for consideration with recommendation for a floor amendment” The recommendation was to strike the section including felony charges, but that will be up to the full state senate instead of just 2 people who were willing to kill the bill in committee.

SB1112 now moves to the Senate floor for debate and vote in the near future.”

Last week D.J McGuire penned an article titled, “Everything you think you know about nullification is wrong” that was published on BearingDrift.com. He seems to paint nullification as an old, theoretical governing idea.

First, let’s highlight a place where D.J.’s article goes off the rails. At the end of his article where, after stating he has faith in Washington D.C. to legislate logically when it comes to the 2nd Amendment, D.J. writes, “Wait, did I just say ‘Washington will be smart enough…’? Maybe we should dust off the history books after all…” It is a common misconception that you would have to go back to antebellum America to find a successful use of nullification. You do have to go back in time; all the way back to 2009. That is when, then State Senator Ken Cuccinelli authored, and got signed into law, the Real ID Nullification Act, which states that “the Commonwealth will not comply with any provision of the federal REAL ID Act that it determines would compromise the economic privacy, biometric data, or biometric samples of any resident of the Commonwealth.” This bill passed the House of Delegates by the narrowest of margins, 96-3, and squeaked through the State Senate 36-0. The Real ID Act has been Federal law since 2005, but it has never been implemented in Virginia because Virginia nullified it. 24 other states have nullified the law as well, due to the Act’s onerous nature. Because of this the Federal government has not implemented this in any state in the United States. This nullification, and others, have been wildly successful and shows that the concept of nullification is not something just for the “history books”.

The “antiquated idea” characterization is not the most incorrect nor most dangerous incorrect factoid where nullification is concerned. That factoid does not rear its head in DJ’s article. It is proposed in the comments section. The assumption is that the Federal government is not acting outside of its Constitutional authority because the U.S. Supreme Court has not stated that it is or has ruled to the contrary. This is an understandable misconception since it is taught in schools from elementary civics all the way to law school. But it is never the less incorrect.

Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it state that the U.S. Supreme court is the determiner of what is Constitutional and what is not. The U.S. Supreme Court is the arbiter when states have a disagreement between themselves and it is the final judge in cases brought through the American court system. Like the other branches of the Federal government it is supreme in carrying out its function with respect to authorities granted it in the U.S. Constitution, namely the enumerated powers. Since the Federal government was given a specific list of powers, and the 9th and 10th Amendments specifically prohibits them having any others that are not listed, the U.S. Supreme court also has no power to rule outside of those enumerated powers and the other few given it. The notion that the states gave up all authority to the agent they created with the U.S. Constitution is not only laughable but would require one to deny the 9th and 10th Amendments exist. Additionally, when our founders sought to describe such absolute power they used the term “in all cases whatsoever”. This phrase is twice used in our founding documents. It first appears in the Declaration of Independence when describing the actions of King George who believed he was the final authority on everything, whatsoever. Next it appears in Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution when describing Congress’s power in governing Washington D.C. This phrase is never used to describe the authority of the U.S. Supreme court nor the Executive branch of government. It is only used in describing the legislative authority of Congress over the capitol city.

The common retort to this perspective is “Marbury vs. Madison says you are wrong!” I think that misconception absolutely needs to be addressed. That will be dealt with in due time. For now, I hope you will at least agree that the act of saying something does not automatically make it so.

The best way to understand the nullification issue would be to start at the beginning of American civilization and put the pieces together. We will take the way-back machine to that place in our next episode.

Stay tuned.

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln.

As I mentioned here Thursday, we traveled to the Bedford Tea Party meeting to deliver our presentation on state nullification. What I didn’t realize is that we would get a chance to meet up with Lt. Governor Candidate Susan Stimpson. Susan is the Chair of the Board of Supervisors in Stafford County. After going through a somewhat impressive, (if slightly policy wonkish) exposition on her accomplishments in that role, she then acknowledged our presentation on nullification. I guess she felt the need to show solidarity for the 10^th Amendment before she had to leave for another meeting in Lynchburg.

She then said, much to my surprise, that she was a supporter of nullification. My heart skipped a beat, as most politicians run from this concept; especially ones who are tight with Speaker of the House of Delegates Bill Howell. Howell is one of the architects of the GOP surrenders in the general assembly on taxes, Obamacare and Agenda 21. Howell has made it clear to GOP rank and file that nullification bills are not welcome in the House of Delegates. From the picture above, it certainly seems like Stimpson and Howell are on good terms as they posed last year to support George Allen in the Republican Senate Primary.

Friends of Speaker Howell and George Allen are rarely going to support something so anti-establishment as nullification. So  support of state nullification from Stimpson was very surprising.

But as Stimpson explained what she actually meant, I was simultaneously disappointed and bemused. (more…)

I have been bitterly complaining about the lack of fight in the GOP. At both the state and the federal level, the Republicans continue to meekly allow our Republic to march into the shadow of the gallows.

Well there is at least one GOP figure in Virginia that will stand up for our natural rights. And not surprisingly, that person is E.W. Jackson. Please listen to the interview linked here, where Jackson beautifully lays out the case against what the establishment Republican’s are now selling….that we have to meekly accept Obamacare in Virginia.

We will likely be hearing a lot more of this tagline “defy not comply.” Let’s pray that this kind of political courage will be infectious. Here is more from E.W. Jackson, who is running for Lt. Governor this year.

“CHESAPEAKE, VA – E.W. Jackson, Candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia released the following statement on the Virginia House of Delegates passing HB1769, “Health Insurance: Plan Management and Rate Review”:

“Last week the Virginia General Assembly passed HB1769 titled ‘Health insurance: Plan Management and Rate Review.’ It should be titled ‘Facilitating the Implementation of Obamacare.’ This bill instructs the State Department of Health to assist in the plan management functions of a federal health benefit exchange in the Commonwealth. These health exchanges are an essential tool for the implementation of Obamacare.

“Virginia is duty bound to DEFY NOT COMPLY with any federal encroachment on the rights and freedom of our people.”  Republicans and Independents across Virginia will be disappointed that a Republican led General Assembly decided to COMPLY and NOT DEFY a law that will greatly hurt the economy and health care options affecting all Virginians.

“The only hope to break the tyrannical abuse of federal power is in state governors and legislatures upholding the Ninth and Tenth amendments of the Constitution. Congress and the Supreme Court may have failed us, but there is still recourse. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, wrote in the Virginia Resolution of 1798 that the states have the right, and are duty bound to interpose. The first responsibility of Government is to protect the rights of citizens. The first responsibility of the Virginia legislature is to protect the rights of Virginians. The General Assembly must never cooperate with the federal government’s usurpation of our rights.”

It is rare to see a statewide candidate make such a bold statement in support of the 10th Amendment. With the Republican convention occuring in May, Jackson may be the only candidate in Virginia who will seriously advocate for nullification. We will be following E.W. Jackson and we hope his “defy not comply” campaign takes off.

Chip Tarbutton
Virginia Co-cordinator for the 10th Amendment Center
President Roanoke Tea Party

When was the Tea Party movement most successful? Well, in Virginia that is simple. In January of 2010, 3000 tea party activists flooded Richmond in support of the Health Care Freedom Act (HCFA). The Health Care Freedom Act, in part stated that “a resident of the Commonwealth shall not be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage…” And with massive support from grassroots activists, this measure passed a Republican controlled House and a Democrat controlled State Senate and was signed into law.

Now the HCFA isn’t perfect by any stretch, but what it did show was something that should be clear. People are moved by big ideas. And fighting for their rights was a way to get people off their couches and into the political fight. And the tool that the HCFA used (albeit weakly) was nullification.

The idea that the state could stand up for their rights excited people. And it excited us here in the Roanoke Tea Party.

So where has all the excitement gone? Soon after the passage of the HCFA, (which was passed with the sole intent of giving Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli standing to sue the Feds) it was obvious that state leaders in the GOP wanted to shut the tap on exploring nullification. And when the Roanoke Tea Party continued to advocate for additional stronger nullification actions, our group was soon expelled from the Virginia Tea Party Federation (VTPF).

The concept of nullification became something that you just didn’t talk about in polite GOP and tea party circles.  How did that work out?

Subsequent schemes, like the Repeal Amendment failed to excite the grassroots. In 2011, the Federation held a Richmond rally in support of that flawed idea only drew about 300 people. Interestingly 50 of those people were from the Roanoke Tea Party who traveled 3 hours to Richmond on the same day to lobby for our own initiatives. (more…)