Analysis: The Real Danger of the New Texas Silencer Law thereload.com/analysis-the-r…
Silencers don't work like they do on TV. They're rarely used in crime. Decriminaling them is unlikely to create many problems. But Texas telling its citizens it can nullify federal law could create unsuspecting federal felons as recent history shows. thereload.com/analysis-the-r…
As Kevin Williamson pointed out in @NRO, Wickard and Raich are bad decisions which imply the feds have unlimited power through the commerce clause to regulate nearly any action even if it isn't interstate or, really, commerce. It's sensible to want to chip away at this concept.
But Williamson's analysis stops after 2005's Raich and implies the 2021 court may see things differently due to its new makeup. And he supports using Texas's silencer nullification law to get there. But that leaves out extremely significant recent history.
Texas isn't the first state to pass a silencer nullification law. Kansas did the same thing a few years back and two men bought into the idea the state could protect them from federal law. They ended up being convicted of federal felonies.
And, guess what, they appealed to the Supreme Court on the exact same argument the Texas law now makes. In 2019, the Court denied them cert. It didn't even hear their case. The Court has since swapped Ginsburg for Barrett and could always take up a similar case.
But there's been little movement on this issue in the courts for nearly 80 years. Heck, Scalia even wrote a concurring opinion in Raich. This also doesn't have anything to do with gun-rights. These laws don't invite Second Amendment challenges. These are commerce clause cases.
I don't have any issues with people challenging the standing interpretation of the commerce clause. I think the current interpretation is far too broad. But I do have an issue with misleading people into committing federal felonies in order to get legal guinea pigs.
You can read a lot more on the topic here: thereload.com/analysis-the-r…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
