盐湖城——由于民主党人控制着总统和国会，担心新的联邦枪支管制法律可能性的共和党州议员们没有等着做出反应。

至少十几个州的立法试图取消任何新的限制，如弹药限制或禁止某些类型的武器。一些法案将当地警察强制执行联邦枪支法定为犯罪。

圣路易斯警察局前局长丹尼尔·伊索姆(Daniel Isom)说，这可能会给经常与联邦执法部门合作的官员造成混乱，他现在是“枪支安全一切”的高级顾问。联邦法律在一些领域发挥了很大的作用，比如让枪支远离家庭暴力罪犯。

Isom说，在圣路易斯等城市暴力犯罪上升的时候，让当地官员决定执行哪些法律是警方最不需要的。

“对于社区和执法部门来说，这是极具挑战性的一年，在这个时候要求官员们承受更多的精神压力似乎是完全不合适的，”他说。自冠状病毒大流行以来，全国范围内的枪支销售也创下了月度记录。

Iso担心州议会通过的密苏里州法案，该法案将允许拥有执行联邦枪支法律的警察的警察部门被起诉，并面临5万美元的罚款。这不是密苏里州第一次考虑这样的法案，但是支持者指出总统乔·拜登把就职作为现在通过的理由。

在犹他州，共和党众议员科里·马洛伊(Cory Maloy)也提到了即将上任的政府，此前州众议院通过了他的法案，其中有一项类似的条款禁止执行联邦枪支法。许多共和党州议员认为试图通过联邦枪支限制是对第二修正案的威胁。

“我们真的觉得有必要保护这些权利，”他说。

几个州在时任总统巴拉克·奥巴马的领导下通过了类似的法律，尽管法官在法庭上做出了不利于他们的裁决。大多数最新的联邦废法提案集中在他们州内主要执行州法律而不是联邦法律的警察身上。

尽管拜登呼吁禁止攻击性武器，但鉴于困扰历届政府的政治两极分化，任何新的枪支立法都可能面临艰难的攀登。来自倾向保守的州的民主党议员也可以和共和党人一起反对新的枪支限制。任何可能通过的措施都会得到广泛支持，比如对所有枪支销售进行背景调查。

这些动态并没有阻止州议员们想采取第一步行动来保护他们州的枪支权利。其他十几个州也提出了联邦废除法案，包括阿拉巴马州、阿肯色州、内布拉斯加州、俄克拉荷马州、南卡罗来纳州、田纳西州、怀俄明州、新罕布什尔州、北达科他州、南达科他州、西弗吉尼亚州和爱荷华州。在德克萨斯州，州长呼吁该州成为第二修正案的避难所。

在亚利桑那州，参议院周三通过的一项提案将允许官员因执行联邦枪支限制而被起诉，该州认为这些限制违反了第二修正案。他们可能面临刑事指控。众议院的一项法案没有包括这些惩罚，但其提案人共和党众议员利奥·比亚西乌奇(Leo Biasiucci)表示，这将明确拒绝联邦政府对攻击式武器、大容量杂志或其他枪支的限制。

“他们可以在联邦一级做到这一点，但在亚利桑那州，它不会飞，”他说。

他的提议上周在州众议院获得通过，原因是图森众议员丹尼尔·埃尔南德斯(Daniel Hernandez)等民主党人的反对，他出席了2011年造成美国前众议员加贝·吉福德(Gabby Giffords)严重受伤的枪击事件。他说，如果签署成为法律，这项措施将是违宪的，并将导致一场昂贵的法庭斗争。

Biasiucci将他的计划与亚利桑那州选民将休闲大麻合法化的举措进行了比较，尽管这仍然违反联邦法律。枪支控制组织对此有不同的看法。

吉福兹防止枪支暴力法律中心的高级顾问艾莉森·安德曼说:“枪支杀人，用来制造公共安全问题，而大麻却不是。”。“如果不遵守枪支法，很可能会有人因此被杀。”

蒙大拿州共和党立法机构通过的类似措施在前几年被前民主党州长否决。现在与共和党州长合作，州众议院上周通过了一项法案，禁止州官员对某些枪支、弹药或杂志实施联邦禁令。

在奥巴马总统的领导下，立法机构在2009年通过了一项法律，使蒙大拿州制造的枪支和弹药免受联邦法律的约束。它最终在法庭上被驳回，但几个州仍然遵循他们自己的废除措施。2013年，两名堪萨斯男子试图利用该州的废法推翻他们持有未注册枪支的联邦定罪，但挑战被拒绝。

杜克大学法学院枪支法律中心的执行主任雅各布·查尔斯说:“主要问题是最高条款”，宪法中规定联邦法律优先于州法律的部分。即便如此，这些法案关注的是，当地警方能做什么，不能做什么，能否通过法律审查。

“各州没有义务执行联邦法律，”他说。

GOP state lawmakers seek to nullify federal gun limits

SALT LAKE CITY -- With Democrats controlling the presidency and Congress, Republican state lawmakers concerned about the possibility of new federal gun control laws aren't waiting to react.

Legislation in at least a dozen states seeks to nullify any new restrictions, such as ammunition limits or a ban on certain types of weapons. Some bills would make it a crime for local police officers to enforce federal gun laws.

That can create confusion for officers who often work with federal law enforcement, said Daniel Isom, a former chief of the St. Louis Police Department who is now a senior advisor for Everytown for Gun Safety. Federal law plays a big role in some areas, such as keeping guns away from domestic violence offenders.

Putting local officers in a position to decide which laws to enforce is the last thing police need at a time when cities such as St. Louis are experiencing a rise in violent crime, Isom said.

“This has been an extremely challenging year for both communities and law enforcement, and to ask any more mental strain on officers at this point in time seems to be quite displaced," he said. Gun sales also have set monthly records nationwide since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

Isom is concerned about a Missouri measure passed by the state House that would allow police departments with officers who enforce federal gun laws to be sued and face a $50,000 fine. It's not the first time Missouri has considered such a bill, but supporters pointed to PresidentJoe Bidentaking office as a reason to pass it now.

In Utah, Republican Rep. Cory Maloy also referenced the incoming administration after the state House passed his bill with a similar provision forbidding the enforcement of federal gun laws. Many Republican state lawmakers see attempts to pass federal firearms restrictions as a threat to the Second Amendment.

“We really feel the need to protect those rights,” he said.

Several states passed similar laws under then-president Barack Obama, although judges have ruled against them in court. Most of the latest crop of federal nullification proposals focus on police officers inside their states who primarily enforce state rather than federal laws.

While Biden has called for a ban on assault weapons, any new gun legislation will likely face an uphill climb given the political polarization that has tripped up past administrations. Democratic lawmakers from conservative-leaning states also could join Republicans in opposing new gun restrictions. Any measures likely to pass would have broad support, like background checks on all gun sales, said Everytown President John Feinblatt.

Those dynamics haven't stopped state lawmakers who want to make the first move to protect gun rights in their states. Federal nullification bills have been introduced in more than a dozen other states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wyoming, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Iowa. In Texas, the governor has called for the state to become a Second Amendment sanctuary.

In Arizona, a Senate proposal that passed the chamber on Wednesday would allow officers to be sued for enforcing federal gun restrictions that the state considers violations of the Second Amendment. They potentially could face criminal charges. A bill in the House doesn't include those punishments, but its sponsor, Republican Rep. Leo Biasiucci, said it would be a clear rejection of federal restrictions on assault-style weapons, high-capacity magazines or other firearms.

"They can do that at a federal level, but in Arizona it’s not going to fly,” he said.

His proposal passed the state House last week over the objections of Democrats such as Rep. Daniel Hernandez of Tucson, who was present at the 2011 shooting that severely injured former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords. If signed into law, the measure would be unconstitutional and lead to an expensive court fight, he said.

Biasiucci compares his plan to Arizona voters' move to legalize recreational marijuana even though it remains against federal law. Gun-control groups see it differently.

“Guns kill people and are used to create a public safety issue, whereas marijuana is really not,” said Allison Anderman, senior counsel with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “What is likely to happen if gun laws are not followed is people get killed as a result.”

Similar measures passed by the Republican Legislature in Montana were vetoed in previous years by the former Democratic governor. Now working with a Republican governor, the state House passed a bill last week to bar state officials from enforcing federal bans on certain firearms, ammunition or magazines.

Under Obama's presidency, the Legislature passed a law in 2009 that made guns and ammunition manufactured in Montana exempt from federal law. It eventually was struck down in court, but several states still followed with their own nullification measures. In 2013, two Kansas men tried to use that state's nullification law to overturn their federal convictions for possessing unregistered firearms, but the challenge was rejected.

“The main issue there is the Supremacy Clause," the part of the Constitution that says federal law supersedes state law, said Jacob Charles, executive director of the Center for Firearms Law at Duke Law School. Even so, the bills focused on what local police can and can't do could pass legal muster.

“States have no obligation to enforce federal law," he said.