Any future federal laws passed by Congress or executive orders imposed by President Barack Obama aimed at restricting the ownership of semi-automatic guns or limiting the size of magazines will be considered illegal in Texas -- that is, if a newly proposed bill makes it through the Texas legislature.
GOP Rep. Steve Toth said he plans to introduce the "Firearms Protection Act," which calls for felony criminal charges to be filed against any federal official who tries to enforce new gun-restricting regulations in the Lone Star State.
(Steve Toth for Texas)
"If a federal official comes into the state of Texas to enforce the federal executive order, that person is subject to criminal prosecution," Toth told 1200 WOAI's Joe Pags Tuesday.
Federal officials would face a $50,000 fine and up to five years in prison for attempting to enforce a federal gun ban, according to Toth.
"It is our responsibility to push back when those laws are infringed by King Obama," Toth said.
Toth says he will file his measure after speaking with the state's Republican Attorney General, Greg Abbott, who has already vowed to fight any federal measures which call for restrictions on weapons possession.Toth concedes that he would welcome a legal fight over his proposals.
"At some point there needs to be a showdown between the states and the federal government over the Supremacy Clause," he said.
The Supremacy Clause is the portion of the Constitution which declares that federal laws and statutes are 'the supreme law of the land.'
The proposed legislation comes less than a week after Wyoming lawmakers proposed a similar measure to protect the state from future federal gun control laws.
Do you think Wyoming and Texas are within their rights to protect their states from federal gun control measures?
