Optimism

Tennessee's got it:

(AP) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A person who legally possesses a gun would not have it seized during periods of martial rule under a proposal that has been signed into law by the governor...

Sponsors say... the law is necessary after law enforcement in New Orleans went door to door seizing weapons in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Republican Sen. Jack Johnson of Brentwood, one of the sponsors, has said he doesn't expect such behavior in Tennessee, but believes legislation should be in place just in case.

Just in case, indeed. I hate to be a buzzkill, but martial law pretty much means that normal laws - especially troublesome state laws that get in the way of efficient governance - are out the window. When the ATF goes door-to-door in Tennessee, are citizens supposed to call the cops on them?

Maybe state laws like this one will have a chilling effect on overzealous federales*; that's probably the best one can hope for. But like the yapping poodle state sovereignty laws being passed by a couple of states, they are not important because of what they do**, but because they represent the first audible rumblings of a very deep discontent that will only be exacerbated by Uncle Sam's mostly-self-imposed troubles going forward.

* Yeah, right.

** Which is nothing.