I am not a lawyer. But it would see this bolsters the case for building your own machine guns, mortar’s, grenades, etc..
Late last night, after months of litigation, a federal court in Texas decided the federal ban on at-home distillation of beverage spirits is unconstitutional. The district court’s decision is fair; it is correct on the law; and it is historic.
Lawyers at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) represent several amateur home-distilling enthusiasts who want to pursue the essentially harmless hobby of at-home distilling of beverage spirits for personal use without the looming threat of legal sanctions. Under federal law, distilling in one’s home or backyard can result in a $10,000 fine and a five-year imprisonment.
The court found that:
- The federal ban on home distilling exceeds the scope of the federal government’s limited powers.
- The Constitution’s tax power does not allow the federal government to ban home distilling, largely because the ban does not add money into the federal treasury or protect federal tax revenue.
- The Constitution’s power to regulate interstate commerce does not allow the federal government to ban home distilling, largely because the ban neither regulates interstate commerce directly nor is it related to any larger regulatory scheme.
I didn’t read the actual ruling but I suspect what the judge said can be applied to almost anything not involved in Interstate commerce. Hence, when applied to homemade grenades at a Boomershoot side event the courts would be inclined to say the Federal government can’t ban them either.
Looks like “filter traps” are gonna be back on the menu boys.
Per Wickard v Filburn everything is interstate commerce even if it is not commerce or interstate. Top 10 of awful SCOTUS decisions.
I’d put in even higher than top 10. Strong contender for #1!
I’d say #3, after Dred Scott and Korematsu.
Both of which have been “fixed” to some extent. Wickard is still the law of the land.
Certainly going to be interesting when we find out if the main concern of the Federal Government is money or power or safety (really?). Opps, my bad. To them it is one and the same (forget about safety, that was just a cynical snark). Don’t be surprised if there is eventually an effort to control heirloom seeds since they had to be packaged somewhere and shipped, even if that occurred decades ago. When lying is used to obtain power, it will never stop willingly. Logically, Joe’s observation is right, but I do not know of any steel mills in Washington or Idaho that produce steel all the way from raw materials to finished plate or forgings. So, the Feds can twist it again to their advantage.
Why would we need steel for recreational grenades? Use clay shells and homemade black powder (nitrate from barnyards, carbon from trees, and I’m sure we could find a sulfur source around some hot spring) and black powder fuses. It would be AWESOME just for the joy of frustrating the political left and the ATF.