Texas bills would nullify U.S. gun laws

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AUSTIN, Texas, March 14 (UPI) -- Texas lawmakers are considering several proposals backers say would allow the state to ignore any new federal gun control laws.

Some bills would even make it illegal to enforce any new federal weapons measures, the San Antonio Express-News reported Wednesday.

Some proposals would exempt locally made firearms from federal gun laws, while others would jail Texas police officers who try to enforce such laws.

"The intent is to assert the sovereignty of Texas where constitutionally appropriate," said Brandon Creighton, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, which considered the bills during a hearing.

"God has given us a basic right to bear arms," Aubrey Vaughan, pastor of the Beulah Land Baptist Church in Conroe told the committee.

Democrats have described the bills as extreme, but few people at the hearing spoke against the measures.

Creighton acknowledged the bills may not pass constitutional muster but he said "giving a voice to Texans to be heard on these issues -- that is important."