Judge To Rule Soon On Missouri Bill To Block Enforcement Of Federal Gun Laws

Missouri Police Department will know within a week if they can work with the federal government to enforce certain gun laws, Cole County district judge Daniel Green said Thursday.

After hearing arguments about the legislature called the Second Amendment Protection Act, Green said he would be quick to decide whether to suspend enforcement of the bill or state that St. Louis and St. Louis Counties failed to challenge them are.

“I intend to get back to you within a week,” said Green.

In the lawsuit filed in June, St. Louis and St. Louis Counties are seeking an injunction blocking enforcement of the law, which took effect immediately when Governor Mike Parson signed it on June 12.

The bill states that when “the federal government assumes powers not given to it by the people in the United States Constitution, its actions will be irrelevant, null and void.”

It then states that federal arms laws that impose special taxes on firearms, require the registration or tracking of firearms, ammunition and accessories, or take away weapons from “law abiding citizens” cannot be enforced in the state. Missouri law enforcement and officials face civil fines of up to $ 50,000 for working with federal agencies to enforce the law.

An injunction would allow time for a detailed review of the law by the courts, attorney Bob Dierker, who represents St. Louis and St. Louis Counties, told Green.

“We’re not sure what it means. We’re not sure what ordinances or laws or federal laws we can’t enforce, ”Dierker said.

St. Louis is already being sued for its enforcement actions, he said, and it has disrupted joint task forces designed to reduce gun violence in the city.

“The actions of the police and the federal government are vital to maintaining public order and security in the city,” said Dierker.

In his arguments asking the court for a ruling that the bill was constitutional, John Sauer of the Missouri Attorney General said that it is the subject of the bill, not its methods, that disrupts the two local governments.

There is a provision in the bill that would hold Missouri government agencies liable for damage if they employ an officer who violates the provisions of the new law.

If it was a bill with the same provisions but related to the employment of civil servants who had violated civil rights in a protest, the cities would not have challenged it.

“This is a civil right that is only politically disadvantaged in these legal systems,” said Sauer.

The law has already disrupted several cooperation efforts, wrote the US Department of Justice in a brief submitted to the court on Wednesday

Frederic Winston, special envoy for the Kansas City Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said in an affidavit presented to the court that a dozen state and local officials have withdrawn from participating in the ATF role Forces, at least in part, because of the law.

This includes members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Columbia Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, O’Fallon Police Department, and Sedalia Police Department.

In his arguments against Green, Sauer said St. Louis and St. Louis Counties should have asked the courts to comment on the implications of the bill rather than attempting to overturn it entirely.

“You have not issued a declaratory judgment that seeks clarity about the meaning of the law,” said Sauer. “You went for the carotid artery, so to speak.”

The lawsuit challenging the law argues that it is too vague to enforce, violates the powers of charter cities and counties, and improperly seeks to overturn federal gun laws.

“It is not up to the General Assembly to invade the prerogatives of the other branches of government,” said Dierker. “The General Assembly has taken the power to make certain laws unconstitutional, and the General Assembly does not.”

Sauer attempted to portray the effect of the bill as protecting the rights of Missourians should President Joe Biden’s administration keep election promises to restrict the types of guns and ammunition magazines that can be bought in the United States.

If that were all, Dierker said, the lawsuit would not have been brought.

When opening his case, Sauer cited several testimonies from Biden and supporters during the campaign about his desire to limit semi-automatic weapons and enact other weapon restrictions.

“He made a number of statements during his candidacy that I think would be deeply troubling or even alarming to someone passionate about the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Missouri Constitution,” said Sauer.

But before he got very far, Green stopped him.

“Let me help you here,” said Green. “I’m just a simple Cole County district judge.”

He knows about legal issues, Green said, but he wasn’t going to turn the hearing into a political discussion.

“If you want to talk about gun rights and who is right and who is wrong,” said Green, “I’d love to come back to a Lincoln-Douglas debate.”

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