“Now sir, I fully understand that the definitions included in a number of Federal regulations concerning firearms (such as Title 27) amplify the terms includes and including to ‘not exclude other things not enumerated which are in the same general class or are otherwise within the scope thereof.’ However, the fifty Sovereign Union States are not by any stretch of the imagination in the same class as Federal ‘States’ such as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or other federal possessions. They are not the possessions of the U.S. Federal government, but rather have their own distinct sovereignty, and their respective systems of laws and legal jurisdictions.”
The promoter scratched his head and opened his mouth, but Matt went on before the man had a chance to comment. Keane added, “Now if you have any doubt about my reasoning, I should point out that the Territories of Hawaii and Alaska were both originally listed as territories included in the Federal United States, but they were removed in the new versions of the U.S. Code that were published after they became Sovereign Union States.”
The crowd around the table was growing larger. Matt paused, waiting for his words to sink in. The promoter said nothing, so he went on. “Anyone who is not a citizen or legal resident of the Federal United States should be exempt from any requirement to obtain a Federal Firearms License to conduct intra-state commerce or commerce between any other of the fifty Sovereign States. The only exception would be if someone were to do business with, say, for example, an individual or Federally licensed dealer in Puerto Rico or the District of Columbia or some other Federal ‘State’ as defined in the NFA and GCA.
“Now here’s the kicker. It’s not just the Federal gun laws that are written this way. Nearly all the Federal laws apply only in the ‘District of Criminals’ and the Federal Territories. Only a few laws regarding the Postal Service, the Patent Office, and espionage apply in the fifty states. Except for those few laws, the Federal laws don’t apply to state Citizens or carry true force of law within the states. So when you see these ninja-suited Federal alphabet soup agency boys running around the fifty states, collecting taxes, arresting people, levying fines, burning down churches, and shooting nursing mothers in the head; guess what? They’re outside their jurisdiction.
“Now here are some other cases you might want to ponder: ‘It is a well established principle of law that all federal legislation applies only within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States unless a contrary intent appears.’ That’s from Foley Brothers Inc. v. Filardo, 336 U.S. 281.
“‘The laws of Congress in respect to those matters’— that is those outside of those Constitutionally delegated powers—‘do not extend into the territorial limits of the states, but have force only in the District of Columbia, and other places that are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the national government.’ That’s from Caha v. U.S., 152 U.S. 211.
“‘Since in common usage, the term person does not include the sovereign, statutes not employing the phrase are ordinarily construed to exclude it.’ That’s from U.S. v. Fox, 94 U.S. 315.”
The show promoter began nodding his head repeatedly. Matt carried on.
“‘Because of what appears to be a lawful command on the surface, many Citizens, because of respect for the law, are cunningly coerced into waiving their rights, due to ignorance.’ That’s from U.S. v. Minker, 350 U.S. 179 187.
“‘Waivers of Constitutional rights not only must be voluntary, they must be knowingly intelligent acts, done with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and consequences.’ That’s from Brady v. U.S., 397 U.S. 742 at 748.
“‘The words ‘People of the United States’ and ‘citizens’ are synonymous terms, and mean the same thing. They both describe the political body who, according to our republican institutions, form the sovereignty… They are what we familiarly call the ‘sovereign people,’ and every citizen is one of this people, and a constituent member of the sovereignty.’ That’s from Wong Kim Ark, quoting the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision .
“‘Under our form of government, the legislature is not supreme. It is only one of the organs of that absolute sovereignty which resides in the whole body of the People; like other bodies of the government, it can only exercise such powers as have been delegated to it, and when it steps beyond that boundary, its acts are utterly void.’ That’s from Billings v. Hall.
“And last but not least: ‘All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void.’ That’s from Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 176.”With that, Matt sat down on the edge of one of his rented tables and folded his hands.
The crowd that had gathered applauded. The promoter walked away speechless and red-faced.
One of the men from the crowd stepped up to shake Matt’s hand and said, “I wish I had that one on tape. What are you, an attorney?”
“No sir. I’m just a private Citizen that spends far too much time in law libraries.”
Four years before the Crunch, Matt was twenty-four years old. His brother had just turned twenty. On a chilly February evening, Matt and Chase were on their way back from the Charlotte, North Carolina, gun show in Matt’s light blue 1987 Ford van. The Keanes had had a good show. They had sold seven guns, and bought two. They also nearly sold out of their small remaining inventory of magazines, knowing that magazine prices would collapse following the sunset of the 1994 Federal law. So instead of selling magazines to supplement their gun sales, the Keanes switched to selling web gear, gas masks, first-aid gear, bulletproof vests, police and military memorabilia, and ammunition. They had the majority of their gun show inventory in the back of the van. The rest of it was in Chase’s aging Dodge Executive motor home.
They had left the gun show promptly at five on Saturday, as was their habit.
Unlike most dealers, they did not operate their tables on Sunday. The Keanes refused to buy or sell on the Lord’s Day. This often angered the gun show organizers, who didn’t like seeing bare tables on Sunday. But they stood firm.
They just quoted the scripture, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20, verse 8.”
On Friday morning, they had left Chase’s motor home at the campground where Chase was working temporarily, near Greensboro. Chase had worked out a barter deal where he could have a free space for his motor home and free laundry room privileges in exchange for picking up trash, cleaning the laundry room, spreading sand on icy mornings, and helping travelers use the septic dump station. The latter was the campground owner’s least favorite job. He was happy to find someone willing to do it and not ask for wages in return.
On their way back from the gun show, Matt was driving. He was wearing his trademark black BDU cap—the one that Chase jokingly referred to as “that Sarah Conner cap.” Just before they reached the city of Asheboro, sixty miles southeast of Greensboro, Matt noticed that they were being followed by a North Carolina state trooper. The car paced them for several minutes. This made Matt nervous. “They probably don’t like the look of our Washington plates.”
Chase muttered, “We should have registered the van and brought the tags up to date before we left on this trip. They’ve got no sense of humor about expired tags here in these ‘miscellaneous eastern states.’”
Matt replied with his oft-quoted catchphrase, “But we’re not driving, little brother. We’re locomoting on a right-of-way. I’m not a driver. I’m a traveler.