Don’t expect Missouri law enforcement to enforce gun control legislation that President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats passed and signed.
According to the Kansas City Star, Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson stated on Thursday that he would sign the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” a piece of state conservatives’ legislation has been pushing for almost a decade. The renewed push for gun control laws by the Biden administration renewed interest in the bill, which passed the state Senate 24-10 and the state House of Representatives 110-43.
While liberal critics have pointed to the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which states that the Constitution and federal laws are the “supreme Law of the Land” and cannot be superseded by state law, Republicans have said the bill merely codifies legal discretion in matters of gun law.
Republican state Sen. Eric Burlison stated, “We’re just simply saying we’re not going to lift a finger to enforce their rules,” the Kansas City Star reported.
At a Saturday ceremony at a shooting range in Lee’s Summit, Parson, a former sheriff, will sign the bill.
Kelli Jones, a spokeswoman for Gov. Parson, said in a statement, “The Governor is aware of the legal implications of this bill, but also that, now more than ever, we must define a limited role for the federal government to protect citizen’s rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, this is about empowering people to protect themselves and acknowledging the federalist constitutional structure of our government.”
According to the Webster County Citizen, Gov. Parson’s signature of the bill will make Missouri the 13th state to prohibit law enforcement officials from enforcing federal gun laws that aren’t on state books.
The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Jered Taylor, singles out specific “federal acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, rules, and regulations [that] shall be considered infringements on the people’s right to keep and bear arms, as guaranteed by Amendment II of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution.”
Under the new rule, any federal law putting fees or taxes on weapons and ammunition “that might reasonably be expected to create a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of those items by law-abiding citizens” would be invalidated. Registration and tracking of weapons, ammunition, and firearm attachments, as well as ownership of any of these items, would not be possible. Federal legislation restricts the sale or transfer of firearms and any law ordering the confiscation, which would be unenforceable in Missouri.
On the other hand, state and local law enforcement in Missouri will be barred from working with federal officials on any gun laws that aren’t on the books in the state. Furthermore, local police could not hire former federal agents who enforced those laws. The bill allows people who claim that local cops enforcing federal gun prohibitions violated their Second Amendment rights to sue for up to $50,000.
When the bill passed in May, Rep. Taylor said, “We are doing this bill because the Second Amendment is under attack.”
“It’s under attack by the Democrats, specifically the Biden administration and the Democrats in Washington.”
President Joe Biden announced three gun control initiatives his administration would be pursuing on the third anniversary of the Parkland school shooting: banning so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, instituting a universal background check system, and ending impunity for gun manufacturers.
According to a New York Times report last month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is actively searching for ways to fit the White House’s proposed immigration overhaul within budget reconciliation – a move that the Senate parliamentarian would surely oppose.
Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, these two swings moderate votes in the Democrat caucus in the upper house; and still publicly refusing to budge on any proposal to do away with the filibuster, meaning none of these agenda items will likely be rammed through without Republican support.
That state of affairs, however, is unlikely to last. While laws like these won’t prevent federal agents from enforcing these laws in the state if they so choose, there’s no reason for states to help them abrogate on our Second Amendment rights.
The Biden administration and the Democratic Party need to hear just two words as Missouri is merely telling them: Molon Labe.
Come and take them.
“Shall not be infringed” If the left continues to regard this phrase as a suggestion, they won’t be the last state to send this message, either.
Sources: Western Journal, Kansas City, House.mo.gov, webstercountycitizen.com, NY Times