Constitutional Sanctuaries; Welcome to the Party, Glenn Beck
Yesterday Glenn Beck discussed Constitutional Sanctuary States, the idea that a state, Texas in his interview, would fail to cooperate with Federal law if it violated individual rights, restrictive gun control, for example. In fact it was gun control in Virginia that gave birth to the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement in the last few years. I have been writing and talking about Constitutional Sanctuaries for over a year. I first blogged about it on April 6, 2020:
During the spring and summer I wrote “Hashticharot's Revolution”, sequel to “And Hashticharot Smiled” which detailed what the implementation of a Constitutional Sanctuary would look, like including a sample bill. (This is available free for the asking and I sent a copy to Mr. Beck when it was complete.)
During his interview Glenn asked a very important question. Would the state protect the individual from federal enforcement? If, for example, the feds banned the venerable AR-15 and the state, Texas for example, said they disagreed and wouldn't help with enforcement, would the state protect the individual from confiscation or prosecution? The interviewee said no, stating the feds had the right to enforce their own law. But if the law violates the Constitution and individual rights, isn't the law illegitimate?
That is what is missing with our non-compliance: resistance. If the law violates natural and constitutional rights and establishes tyranny, we have a duty to resist its implementation and enforcement. On a political level this precedent was established with the doctrine of the lesser magistrate six hundred years ago in Germany. This is what I mean when I talk about a Constitutional Sanctuary-a place where federal law is not only ignored but officially resisted to the point of prosecuting federal officials for their attempts at enforcement.
If our displeasure is only displayed through non-compliance the result will be prosecution and jail for those who display this measure of courage. They will take even more tax money to build more prisons to house all the deviants and the tyranny will simply grow. No-if the law is illegitimate we have no obligation to suffer its penalties. Isn't that what people mean when they say “Out of my cold dead hands!”? Our defiance must go beyond rejection to resistance. Until the bully's nose is bloodied, he will not stop. The same goes for tyrants.
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