http://www.dakotavoice.com/2010/03/governor-rounds-signs-firearms-freedom-act-into-law/Governor Rounds Signs Firearms Freedom Act into LawBy Bob Ellis on March 12th, 2010
The South Dakota Legislature recently passed SB 89 which declares ?exempt from federal regulation any firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured and retained in South Dakota.?
Now, a little more than a week later, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds has signed the bill into law.
The bill is the latest of many crafted in states across the country in the last year which re-assert the Tenth Amendment rights of the states which have been carelessly trampled by the federal government for decades.
The Tenth Amendment declares
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
And while Article 1 Section 8 (also known as the enumerated powers) of the U.S. Constitution empowers the federal government ?[t]o regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes,? obviously the regulation of firearms and ammunition manufactured and retained in the state of South Dakota is not among the powers of the federal government.
As the federal government has radically overstepped is constitutional limitations in the past year or so, an explosion of states have begun re-asserting their rights not only with regard to firearms, but also in shielding themselves against government health care, cap and trade global warming taxes, and more.
The following is the text of SB 89:
ENTITLED, An Act to exempt from federal regulation any firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured and retained in South Dakota.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Section 1. Terms used in this Act mean:
(1) ?Firearm accessory,? any item that is used in conjunction with or mounted upon a firearm but is not essential to the basic function of a firearm, including any telescopic or laser sight, magazine, flash or sound suppressor, folding or aftermarket stock and grip, speed loader, ammunition carrier, or light for target illumination;
(2) ?Generic and insignificant part,? any firearm part, including a spring, screw, nut, and pin;
(3) ?Manufactured,? any firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition which has been created from basic materials for functional usefulness, including forging, casting, machining, or other processes for working materials.
Section 2. Any firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in South Dakota and that remains within the borders of South Dakota 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. This section applies to any firearm, firearm accessory, and ammunition that is manufactured in South Dakota from basic materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant parts imported from another state. Any generic and insignificant part that has other manufacturing or consumer product application is not a firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition, and importation of such parts into South Dakota and incorporation into a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured in South Dakota does not subject the firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition to federal regulation. It is declared by the Legislature that any basic material, such as unmachined steel and unshaped wood, is not a firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition and is not subject to congressional authority to regulate any firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition under interstate commerce as if it was actually a firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition. The authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce in basic material does not include authority to regulate any firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition made in South Dakota from such basic material. Any firearm accessory that is imported into South Dakota from another state and that is subject to federal regulation as being in interstate commerce does not subject a firearm to federal regulation under interstate commerce because it is attached to or used in conjunction with a firearm in South Dakota.
Section 3. The provisions of section 2 of this Act do 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 one and one-half inches and that uses smokeless powder, not black powder, as a propellant;
(3) Ammunition with a projectile that explodes using an explosion of chemical energy after the projectile leaves the firearm; or
(4) A firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one activation of the trigger or other firing device.
Section 4. A firearm manufactured or sold in South Dakota pursuant to this Act shall have the words, Made in South Dakota, clearly stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.
Section 5. The provisions of this Act apply to any firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured and retained in South Dakota after July 1, 2010.
