The Gun Violence Prevention and Children's Safety Act is being described as the toughest in the nation. That may be so, but without question it is also violates the U.S. Constitution. You don't even have to go to the Second Amendment; read Article I, Section 10: "No State shall ... pass ... any ex post facto Law."

The term appears no where in our state constitution, nor apparently, in the vocabulary of our state lawmakers. Black's Law Dictionary cites several specific examples, but a satisfactory definition which applies here can be found online with a google search: Laws that provide for the infliction of punishment upon a person for some prior act that, at the time it was committed, was not illegal.

This new law is replete with egregious ex post facto violations; the word felony occurs 43 times in its 99 sections. There are numerous Second Amendment infringements as well, such as requirements for various permits, long gun certificates and ammunition certificates.

It will almost certainly be challenged in federal court. Eventually the Supreme Court will have to define the meaning of "infringe" thereby setting the standard for Congress and every state on just how far government can encroach on our right to keep and bear arms.