Senate panel asserts state law trumps federal rule

PHOENIX Declaring state law to be above all others, a Senate panel voted Tuesday block federal gun laws they believe violate the Second Amendment, and to punish the city of Tucson for enacting its own restrictions.

The votes were part of a series of actions by the same Senate committee asserting state supremacy, including:

All of the votes, along party lines in the Republican-controlled Committee on Federalism, Mandates and Fiscal Responsibility, were based on arguments that the state has to protect individual rights from being trampled.

Potentially the most far reaching is SB 1384, requiring federal officials to get permission from a county sheriff before taking certain actions. Sen. Judy Burges, R-Sun City West, said it simply recognizes the supremacy of the state over the federal government, and that sheriffs are each countys chief constitutional and law enforcement officer.

SB 1384 would make it illegal for any federal employee, including a law enforcement official who has not been first given permission by the sheriff, to make an arrest, conduct a search or seize property.

Burges said the law is needed because it is a duty of the sheriff to protect and defend the citizens business of his county from any and all abuses of constitutional rights and freedoms, even in the name of law enforcement.

Exceptions are provided for incidents on federal lands or where the officer has witnessed a crime that requires immediate arrest. And it would not apply to customs or Border Patrol officers.

Burges said there are things already happening in Arizona that are potential flash points, including federal agencies closing roads, and in one instance, in Greenlee County, the confiscation of cattle and sale of them at auction in a dispute between the U.S. Forest Service and the rancher.

Burges sees her legislation as a way for the state to fight back against things like the federal government requiring that wolves be accommodated in Arizona something two other committees have voted to spend $250,000 fighting in court.

She said there already are problems with wolves stalking children, and her legislation affirms the right of the sheriff to defend Arizonans, including shooting a wolf without fear of a $50,000 federal fine.

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Senate panel asserts state law trumps federal rule