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Proposed NC Firearms Freedom Act |
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2010 North Carolina State Assembly HOUSE BILL NO. H INTRODUCED BY AN ACT EXEMPTING FROM FEDERAL REGULATION UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES A FIREARM, A FIREARM ACCESSORY, OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURED AND RETAINED IN NORTH CAROLINA; AND PROVIDING AN APPLICABILITY DATE. BE IT ENACTED BY THE ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA: Section 1. Short title. [Sections 1 through 9] may be cited as the "North Carolina Firearms Freedom Act". Section 2. Declarations of authority. The legislature declares that the authority for [sections 1 through 9] is the following: (1) The 10th amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the constitution and reserves to the state and people of North Carolina certain powers as they were understood at the time that North Carolina adopted the Constitution in November 1789. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of North Carolina and the United States whereupon North Carolina was the first state to ratify following the inclusion of a Bill of Rights, without which it would not have been adopted, and the violation of said amendments usurps the principles whereupon North Carolina joined the Union on November 21, 1789. (2) The ninth amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the constitution and reserves to the people of North Carolina certain rights as they were understood at the time that North Carolina adopted the Constitution in 1789. The guaranty of those rights is a matter of contract between the state and people of North Carolina and the United States as of the time that the Constitution of the United States was agreed upon and adopted by North Carolina in 1789. (3) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the states under the 9th and 10th amendments to the United States constitution. (4) The second amendment to the United States constitution reserves to the people the right to keep and bear arms as that right was understood at the time that North Carolina ratified the Constitution in 1789, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of contract between the state and people of North Carolina and the United States as of the time that the US Constitution and Bill of Rights was agreed upon and adopted by North Carolina in 1789. (5) Article I, section 30, of the North Carolina Constitution and Declaration of Rights clearly secures to North Carolina citizens, and prohibits government interference with, the right of individual North Carolina citizens to keep and bear arms. To wit, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; and, as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they shall not be maintained, and the military shall be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power." This constitutional protection is unchanged from the original North Carolina constitution, which was approved by congress and the people of North Carolina, and the right exists as it was understood at the time that the Constitution of the United States was agreed upon and ratified by North Carolina in 1789. (6) The Federalist Papers (specifically Madison #46 and Hamilton #29) as well as the entire history of the ratification of the Second Amendment reveals, that the right to bear arms was primarily intended as the sole means of defense, and as a hedge against the potential tyranny of an overreaching Federal Government. (7) According to the natural law of logic, a right intentionally enumerated in both the Constitution of the United States and within the North Carolina State Constitution specifically and directly intended as a hedge against the potential tyranny of an overreaching Federal Government, should not and can not in any way be defined by nor regulated from the very Federal Government being so guarded. Section 3. Definitions. As used in [sections 1 through 9], the following definitions apply: (1) "Borders of North Carolina" means the boundaries of North Carolina described in the North Carolina constitution. (2) "Firearms accessories" means items that are used in conjunction with or mounted upon a firearm but are not essential to the basic function of a firearm, including but not limited to telescopic or laser sights, magazines, flash or sound suppressors, folding or aftermarket stocks and grips, speedloaders, ammunition carriers, and lights for target illumination. (3) "Generic and insignificant parts" includes but is not limited to springs, screws, nuts, and pins. (4) "Manufactured" means that a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition has been created from basic materials for functional usefulness, including but not limited to forging, casting, machining, or other processes for working materials. Section 4. Prohibitions. (1) A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in North Carolina and that remains within the borders of North Carolina is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce. It is declared by the legislature that those items have not traveled in interstate commerce, and are thus under the direct auspices of the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution wherein the power to regulate these items are reserved to the State of North Carolina. (2) This section applies to a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured in North Carolina from basic materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant parts imported from another state. Generic and insignificant parts that have other manufacturing or consumer product applications are not firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition, and their importation into North Carolina and incorporation into a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured in North Carolina does not subject the firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition to federal regulation. (3) It is declared by the legislature that basic materials, such as unmachined steel and unshaped wood, are not firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition and are not subject to congressional authority to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition under interstate commerce as if they were actually firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition. (4) The authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce in basic materials does not include authority to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition made in North Carolina from those materials. Firearms accessories that are imported into North Carolina from another state and that are subject to federal regulation as being in interstate commerce do not subject a host firearm to federal regulation under interstate commerce because they are attached to or used in conjunction with a firearm manufactured in North Carolina. Section 5. Exceptions. For the purposes of this act only, [Section 4] does not apply to: (1) a firearm that cannot be carried and used by one person; (2) a firearm that has a bore diameter greater than 1 1/2 inches and that uses smokeless powder, not black powder, as a propellant; or (3) ammunition with a projectile that explodes using an explosion of chemical energy after the projectile leaves the firearm. (4) other than shotguns, a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one activation of the trigger or other firing device. Section 6. Marketing of firearms. A firearm manufactured or sold in North Carolina under [sections 1 through 9] must have the words "Made in North Carolina" clearly stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame. Section 7. Marketing of ammunition. Ammunition manufactured or sold in North Carolina under [sections 1 through 9] must have the words "Made in North Carolina" clearly visible on the packaging at the time of sale, this shall not be interpreted to require such a stamp on the ammunition itself. Section 8. Codification instruction. [Sections 1 through 9] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title XX, and the provisions of Title XX apply to [sections 1 through 9]. Section 9. Applicability. [This act] applies to firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition that are manufactured, as defined in [section 3], and retained in North Carolina after January 1, 2011. |
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