Firearm Preemption Protection is Challenged

by
posted on January 23, 2018
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
preemption.jpg

Preemption, a longstanding legal principle wherein state laws can’t be contradicted by localities, is one of the latest practices that gun control groups are targeting. Although the nature of preemption is to allow for consistent expectations across a state—whether in cities or rural areas; or northern, southern, eastern or western parts of a state—the anti-gun crowd says that preemption prevents municipalities governing their jurisdictions.

It seems the anti-gunners keep looking for ways to further infringe on our right to keep and bear arms. If they can’t win at the federal level, they try to make headway at the state level; if they can’t win there, they want to influence cities and towns to enact laws that cut into our firearms freedom.

But the thing is, preemption exists as a way to ensure uniformity of laws within a state. Imagine the chaos if you had to worry about different labor and tax laws every time you crossed from one jurisdiction to another.

NRA-ILA has published an article detailing the importance of maintaining preemption to protect gun owners from “harassment by an unreasonable and confusing patchwork of municipal gun laws.”

Latest

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Jason Smith
House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Jason Smith

The Greatest Second Amendment Victory in a Century

On July 4, 2025, Americans celebrated not only our nation’s independence, but also the restoration of our constitutional Second Amendment rights becoming unconstrained by burdensome and arbitrary fees.

Opening Salvo | More Evidence That Gun-Control Groups are Freaking Out

With the Trump administration’s law-and-order push showing America’s crime problem is clearly not the fault of lawfully armed citizens, gun-control groups are freaking out.

John Rich has a Song for Armed Citizens

John Rich's latest song is "The Righteous Hunter." It is a moving tune about standing up to stop those with evil intentions. It is a song for lawfully armed citizens.

This Department of Education Grant Could Change Things

The University of Wyoming’s Firearms Research Center has been awarded a nearly $1 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education to develop a nationwide program on the origins, meaning and implications of the Second Amendment.

From the Editor | Charlie Kirk Lived for Freedom

“Give me liberty, or give me death,” are the immortal words of Patrick Henry spoken on March 23, 1775, to the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond, Va. His impassioned words were a call to arms against British tyranny.  

Ninth Circuit to Revisit Background Checks on Ammo Case

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted rehearing en banc in Rhode v. Bonta—a case backed by the National Rifle Association and California Rifle and Pistol Association. 

Interests



Get the best of America's 1st Freedom delivered to your inbox.