Before the story of the day, check out the latest installment of Season of Ice over at Glibertarians!

Now:  I found this interesting, mostly because I grew up in Iowa and still have family there.  Excerpt:

A majority of likely voters say they would support a proposed amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would add the right “to keep and bear arms” — and go beyond the protections contained in the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment — if the election were held today.  

A new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found 58% of likely voters plan to vote for the proposed amendment in the Nov. 8 midterm election. Thirty-seven percent of likely voters would vote against it, and another 6% are not sure.

The poll asked likely voters if they would vote “yes” or “no” and included the full language of the proposed amendment, which states: “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The sovereign state of Iowa affirms and recognizes this right to be a fundamental individual right. Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.” 

This, honestly, is how the Constitution’s 2nd Amendment should have been worded.  But we work with the Constitution we have, not the one we want.

Alaska’s Constitution already has a similar provision:

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The individual right to keep and bear arms shall not be denied or infringed by the State or a political subdivision of the State.

The right to bear arms and preemption, all in two concise sentences.  I like it.

There’s a larger issue here.  While I’m gratified to see these evidences of Federalism in action, it shouldn’t be necessary.  The Second Amendment alone should cover this ground.  But the fact is that it is necessary, the Imperial City seems all too often inclined to ignore those parts of the Constitution it finds inconvenient, including, recently, the separation of powers.  So the states take matters into their own hands.

Sooner or later there is going to be a showdown between several states and the Imperial City over these matters.  The question remaining is what form that will take.  The courts give us one option.

There are others.