By: Teresa Mull
Missouri is looking at a bill to make federal gun control laws irrelevant.
TheSentinel.net reports:
In an upcoming vote by Missouri’s state senate, the state is expected to pass a bill that would nullify ALL Federal gun laws and regulations, and make enforcement of those laws by federal officers within the State of Missouri a criminal offense. Republicans control both U.S. Senate seats and more than two-thirds of the seats in both the Missouri House and Senate.
Like its predecessor, SB613, Bill SB367 and its companion, House Bill HB786, would prevent all state agencies and their employees from enforcing any federal law that infringes the Second Amendment in any way, including gun registrations, fees, fines, licenses and bans. Originally authored in 2014, a former version of the bill was also passed, but vetoed by then Missouri Governor Jay Nixon.
The Atlantic reported on this trend and on difficulties with such laws in 2014 in a piece titled, “Disarmed: How Cities Are Losing the Power to Regulate Guns”:
If SB 613 becomes law, Missouri would join a growing list of states that have passed nullification legislation, none of which is likely to survive scrutiny in the courts. Most of these bills are modeled on a 2009 Montana law, which was invalidated last year by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The bill is unconstitutional,” said Rebecca Morgan of the Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “But even if it’s found to be unconstitutional, Missouri is a state where every bill is severable. That means that, even if a court finds part of it unconstitutional, the rest remains. And there are so many things in this bill that we find reckless.”
Gunpowder Magazine will, of course, keep readers posted on any and all developments in this and all gun control legislation and cases.
Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].