By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Missouri have rejected an effort to bring back the state’s “Second Amendment Preservation Act” three years after it was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, and last year’s appeal by Missouri was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to KCUR News and the Associated Press, the Missouri House General Laws Committee this week voted 9-3 against a bill that would have resurrected the law, which was originally passed in 2021.
Under the now-defunct statute, the state held that various federal gun laws were invalid. The U.S. Department of Justice under the Biden administration sued Missouri in 2022, and the following year, the law was struck down by federal District Judge Brian Wimes. His ruling was upheld by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Missouri then appealed to the Supreme Court, which did not grant review.
Republicans and Democrats this week opposed the idea of bringing a revised law back for consideration.
Hampering the effort to bring the bill forward was opposition from local law enforcement, according to the KCUR report. Under the new measure, civil penalties up to $50,000 could be levied for violations.
The new measure is sponsored by Republican state Rep. Bill Hardwick, who reportedly is not giving up.
During a hearing earlier this month in Jefferson City, state Rep. Will Jobe, an Independence Democrat, reportedly raised concerns that the new legislation was another effort to nullify federal gun laws, according to the Columbia Missourian. One of the main concerns of opponents is that it would collide with the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy clause.
Another Democrat, Rep. Jaclyn Zimmermann, raised what might be considered an odd argument, that passage of the legislation could block federal/state law enforcement cooperation. Across the country, Democrats have been defending laws in so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions which prohibit cooperation between local and federal law enforcement on immigration issues.
Yet, this is precisely what the Missouri act tried to do, and what the new legislation would essentially also do.
