Justice Department says new Missouri gun law unconstitutional, hurts public safety
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 2 months ago
The Justice Department on Wednesday asked a Missouri court to invalidate a new state law that prohibits state and local officials from enforcing federal firearms laws, arguing it violates the Constitution and has already done harm to public safety in the state.
Federal prosecutors filed a statement of interest in a challenge to the Missouri law brought by St. Louis and Jackson Counties, which seeks to block enforcement of the measure. The Justice Department told the Cole County Circuit Court it supports a finding that the law, known as HB85, is unconstitutional and an order halting its enforcement.
“HB85 has caused, and will continue to cause, significant harms to law enforcement within the state of Missouri,” the Biden administration wrote in its filing. “HB85 is also plainly unconstitutional.”
Funny. I’m so old I can remember when they didn’t argue that that the states had to enforce border and illegal immigrant laws.
Prosecutors warned the law has already hindered law enforcement efforts to promote public safety in the state and is undermining law enforcement activities, as it interrupts federal, state and local partnerships.
Signed by Republican Governor Mike Parson in June, the measure at the center of the legal battle enacts a $50,000 fine on any law enforcement agency with officers who knowingly enforce federal firearms rules.
Under the law, called the Second Amendment Preservation Act in Missouri, federal gun laws that fall into five categories are considered a violation of the Second Amendment and therefore not recognized by the state.
I’m sure they’ll go judge shopping and find someone who will strike this down. I wish not since I don’t approve of either the war on guns or the war on drugs. I wish state law enforcement would arrest FedGov agents the second they set foot inside of Missouri.
But this break between the states and the almighty FedGov must occur at some point, or else there might as well not be any such thing as states.
On August 20, 2021 at 10:51 am, Ratus said:
Apparently, the DOJ is unaware of the anti-commandeering doctrine of the 10th amendment.
See Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842),New York v. United States (1992), Printz v. United States (1997), Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012), Murphy v. NCAA (2018).
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2018/05/23/anti-commandeering-an-overview-of-five-major-supreme-court-cases/
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt10_2_4_1/
On August 20, 2021 at 6:05 pm, FeralFerret said:
You will notice that the entities involved are from the two largest Democrat strongholds in the state, St. Louis and Kansas City (Jackson county). KC mayor Quinton Lucas has been making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows of late, apparently having aspirations for higher office. Thankfully most of Missouri outside of these two counties is conservative and Republican. Thankfully I live in the portion of Kansas City outside of Jackson county.
On August 20, 2021 at 8:03 pm, Fred said:
When did federal enforcement of “safety” within the several states become “constitutional?
1 Thesesalonians 3:5 has its first century root but the application is too simple to pass up.