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barres wrote:Don't misunderstand me; I wan't saying that the Feds should interfere with CHL regulation. I was just explaining what I remembered of how they interfered with states' laws regulating driving (or at least drinking). I think the Federal government has its fingers in too many pies already.

I didn't think you were; I appreciate you pointing out the 21 year old drinking age. That's also how we had the "national 55 mph" speed limit for so many years.

Chas.

barres wrote:It's been a long time since I've had any History classes or Driver's Ed, but, IIRC, the Feds didn't make the laws, they just threatened to withhold Federal highway funds (and maybe other Federal moneys) if the states didn't adopt what they considered to be the "right" laws. I know that's why the drinking age went up to 21.

In my opinion, this tactic of getting by extortion that which the Constitution won't allow congress to do by legislation is extremely dangerous! Couple this with the absurd extension of the Commerce Clause and we have the potential for federal control at levels of state and local government that would have stunned people as recently as 30 years ago.

As txinvestigator said, allowing the feds to set a standard is very risky. Plus, once the feds have ventured into an area, we won't be able to get them out later when the political winds have changed and congress passes a ban on carrying of handguns. The only "authority" for congress to legislate on the issue of carrying handguns in the states is the Commerce Clause. If congress can tell the states you cannot prohibit the carrying of a handgun that has traveled in interstate commerce, then it can just as easily change the law later to state it's unlawful to carry a handgun that has traveled in interstate commerce. (This is the basis for both the NFA prohibition on machine guns as well as the federal “Gun Free School Zones.�) Yes, this warning ignores the Second Amendment, but we don't yet have a U.S. Supreme Court decision stating the Second Amendment is an individual right, much less one that says that right cannot be regulated to some degree.

Now an interstate compact like the driver’s license compact would be fine.

Chas.