Gun advocates asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to overturn a lower court's ruling against state laws designed to buck federal gun rules.
Earlier this year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district judge's decision against the 2009 Montana Firearms Freedom Act. The law attempts to declare that federal firearms regulations don't apply to guns kept in the state where they were manufactured.
Other pro-gun states have passed similar measures.
The Justice Department has argued successfully that the courts already have decided Congress can use its power to regulate interstate commerce. Some gun-control advocates sided with the federal argument, saying "firearm freedom acts" would allow felons to obtain guns without background checks and make it harder to trace guns used in crimes.
Gun advocates have long said only the Supreme Court can decide the case because it will have to limit the reach of Congress to regulate guns. The Supreme Court is expected to decide next year whether to accept the request.
The advocates, led by the Montana Shooting Sports Association, have had legal support from the attorneys general from the pro-gun states of Montana, Utah, Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming. States that have formally passed a version of Firearms Freedom Act include Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Tennessee, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
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