Montana lawmakers are looking to pick a fight with the Feds and they are confident they can win. In doing so, they will be making a strong stand for state’s rights that would benefit gun owners as well.

Under a proposed law being considered by the legislature, firearms, gun components and ammunition made in Montana and kept in Montana would be exempt from federal regulation, potentially releasing some Montanans from any current or future national gun registration and licensing laws, the Associated Press reports. Of more immediate significance, the legislation could also free gun purchasers in the state from background checks.

More importantly than the obvious support for gun owners, the bill’s proponents are pushing the bill as a bold statement on behalf of state’s rights.

“Firearms are inextricably linked to the history and culture of Montana, and I’d like to support that,” Republican Rep. Joel Boniek, the bill’s sponsor, told the AP. “But I want to point out that the issue here is not about firearms. It’s about state rights.”

Both issues play well in Montana, where conservative-minded, hard-working citizens value their tradition of self-sufficiency and responsibility.

Bills looking to remove federal control over wolf management, marijuana and wetland protection are also being considered, but it is the so-called “Made in Montana” gun measure that has been drafted specifically to draw the feds into court.

“The primary purpose is to set up a legal challenge but also to say we have a lot of really good people in Montana who do the right thing,” Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association told the AP.

The House has endorsed the bill with a 64-36 vote, and the Republican-controlled Senate could pass it easily.

The economic impact of the bill, pitched in part as a stimulus to the state’s economy remains to be seen. The number of firearms manufactured in Montana are small compared to the United States as a whole, as are the number of potential consumers. The gunmaker Shiloh Sharps Rifles estimates that of the 800 or so custom guns it builds in a year, only between 20 and 30 are sold to state residents, the AP reports.

But proponents say it doesn’t matter; deregulate the red tape associated with manufacturing firearms and they will come there to do business.

“We tend to break trail here in Montana,” Marbut said.