It is a time of slings and arrows being thrown back and forth between local governments and state authorities. The issue is the Second Amendment and who has the power to enact gun control statutes that diminish or strip these freedoms entirely.
Thankfully, the courts have consistently ruled in favor of state lawmakers attempting to uphold the Constitution in the face of local threats.
Preemption laws that take precedence over any local act ensure that good people across the state can freely exercise their constitutional rights. These also prevent an unworkable patchwork quilt of local statutes that would doubtlessly ensnare law-abiding citizens for the simple act of traveling from one jurisdiction to another.
But first Memphis and now Montgomery attempted to buck the system and put the brakes on constitutional rights for their constituents.
Last week, the Alabama capital took a giant leap into the legal morass when Mayor Steven Reed (D) signed a new ordinance demanding that law-abiding citizens have a valid photo ID to carry a concealed weapon or have one in a vehicle.
The decree establishes that if a citizen does not possess a valid photo ID, the Montgomery Police Department will take their firearm. At that point, they have 30 days to submit a valid photo ID, offer proof that they own the weapon, and fork over a $150 fine.
Failure to comply will result in the destruction of the firearm after the 30-day period.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s (R) office released a statement reconfirming the official position.
It reads: “The Montgomery City Council’s ordinance related to firearms violates state law. The Code of Alabama plainly states that the Legislature is the sole regulator of firearms and related matters.”
There are two ways this standoff may go. Either Mayor Reed will end the grandstanding and comply with state guidance, or he will waste taxpayer dollars in a likely futile attempt to override Alabama law.
Meanwhile, the battle rages to the north in Tennessee as Memphis continues its quest to suppress Second Amendment rights. City officials defied state authority in their quest to put a wide array of gun control measures on the November ballot, and leaders in Nashville pushed back against the local actions.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) clarified that the state will not tolerate Memphis leaders openly defying the law.
Gun rights are established by the Second Amendment and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and Nashville lawmakers, and local governments may not arbitrarily nullify these freedoms.
Lee explained, “We can’t have cities and municipalities creating their own laws that supersede state law. This isn’t the way it works and shouldn’t be the way it goes moving forward. Importantly, Memphis and Shelby County have made tremendous strides. We’re moving in the right direction. And ironically, we’re moving in the right direction economically and crime numbers are falling.”
There was bad news, at least temporarily, for gun rights supporters in Memphis last week.
A local judge on Wednesday sided with the city’s effort to override state law. Shelby County Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson agreed with the Memphis City Council in its suit against the Shelby County Election Commission over the issue.
She determined that the measures may be placed on the November ballot as they are mere “proposals” and are not amending the city charter.
The city is attempting to overrule constitutional carry in Tennessee by requiring a handgun permit to carry. It also seeks to ban so-called “assault weapons” and establish a localized “red flag” law.
Now it is up to state officials to take the next step in the legal wrangling. The legislature sent a clear warning to Memphis officials that if they want “to go rogue and perform political sideshows,” they risk losing their share of the state’s sales tax revenue.
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