States Rights vs. Federal Rights

I've been meaning to sum up my feelings about states rights versus what I think falls under the jurisdiction of things the Federal Government could do better. However I don't have time right now, so I'll just link to this, a discussion that Montana is leading the way in gun rights, and setting up what surely will soon be a showdown of state vs. federal legality. Basically, Montana is giving Federal Gun Laws the middle finger and passing their own statewide laws that "supercede the unconstitutional federal legislation".

Montana's Gun Liberation:
- Legislation to allow conceal carry anywhere in the state without permit (except federal buildings, haha) has passed in the House and is expected to pass through Senate
- Legislation to allow firearms dealers to buy and sell firearms without reporting the personal information of the people involved in the transaction to Federal authorities has also passed in the House, and also is expected to clear the Senate
- Right to Carry in National monuments and parks upheld in the state legislature last week.

Now, all of these seem like fair enough ideas to me, but what I find the most interesting about this is that they all are clearly things the Federal government has claimed they have the control over legislating. Forgive my ignorance, but I'm not aware of many states who have passed legislation claiming their right to ignore John Marshall.

And it brings into larger questions why we defer to the Federal level to determine whether an issue should be controlled at the state level or the federal level. In almost all cases, when presented with an opportunity to grab power, the Federal Government will grab that power. States, I hope, will begin to see that they have the ability to wave the Tenth Amendment in the President's face, and do what their local constituents please.
Perhaps then we can revisit McCulloch v Maryland, and perhaps we can realize that state legislatures can more effectively respond to the needs of their people than the Federal government ever could.

And then we can all laugh at the irony that the Democrats and Republicans are the children of the Democrat-Republican party, which championed states' rights and smaller government in the early 19th century.


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