Mont. gun law challenges federal powers (Thanks Jenny)

The federal government, said Mr. Marbut, "is a creation of the states, and the states need to get their creation on a leash."

In that sense, the law is only nominally about guns. "Guns are the object, but states' rights are the subject," he said.

Even so, gun-control groups have blasted the law. Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, called it "wrong from the constitutional side and wrong from the policy side."

But it's catching on with state legislatures. Five states have introduced their own versions of the law, while lawmakers in a dozen more are considering it.

In Alaska, the state House approved the Alaska Firearms Freedom Act by a vote of 32-7, but the Legislature adjourned before the bill could reach the Senate. In Texas, a similar bill sponsored by state Rep. Leo Berman won approval in the Public Safety Committee on a 5-0 vote, but failed to reach the floor before adjournment on June 1.

Click within the above paragraphs to read the entire article at the Washington Times.