Texas lawmaker drafts bill making any federal gun ban illegal

Reuters. Texas gun ban law: A Dallas gun store owner displays rifles. A state lawmaker intends to make it a felony to enforce federal gun bans. IMAGE

1/16/13 By TJ Martinell of MSN News

Texas State Rep. Steve Toth plans to file a bill that would make it a felony to enforce any federal gun ban in the state.

A Texas state representative plans to file a bill that would make it a felony to enforce any law or executive order banning semi-automatic firearms.

Republican state Rep. Steve Toth said in a press release that if passed, the Firearms Protection Act would make it a felony for anyone to attempt to enforce a federal gun ban.

"We can no longer depend on the Federal Government and this Administration to uphold a Constitution that they no longer believe in," he said in the press release. He said the administration's "overreach" via executive orders does not align with the Constitution and is unpopular in Texas.

Though Toth said a federal law passed through Congress pre-empts state legislation, he said it's not the same as a presidential executive order, according to The Villager.

At the same time, he told WOAI, "at some point there needs to be a showdown between the states and the federal government over the Supremacy Clause."

Amy Lane, Toth's chief of staff, said the bill is still in the drafting process. Once it's finished, she said Toth plans to show it to Attorney General Greg Abbott before putting it to the legislature.

Though the bill hasn't been completely written yet, Lane said it has received positive feedback from the rest of the state legislature.

"There's not much of a negative (response) that we've heard," she said.

Abbott, a Republican, has previously said he would fight any federal measures that call for restrictions on weapons possession.

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