(CN) — The U.S. Justice Department filed a statement of interest in Missouri state court Wednesday arguing that a new state law outlawing enforcement of federal gun laws by state and local authorities is unconstitutional.
The new law, HB 85, was signed into law June 12 by Republican Governor Mike Parson and declares that certain federal firearms provisions are invalid, penalizes individuals who enforce those laws and imposes civil penalties against state and local law enforcement agencies that employ such individuals.
The law was passed by Missouri’s Republican-dominated Legislature in anticipation of stricter gun regulations pushed by the administration of President Joe Biden. It is the latest attempt by Missouri lawmakers to loosen gun laws, including abandoning training requirements and background checks.
The city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jackson County filed suit in Cole County Circuit Court last month seeking an injunction to block enforcement of the law as unconstitutional. A hearing on the case is set for Thursday.
Wednesday’s Justice Department statement filed with the Cole County court says HB 85 is legally invalid because under the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, “the state of Missouri has no power to nullify federal laws,” nor do state legislators who are bound by an oath to support the Constitution.
“Yet again, Biden’s Department of Justice is attempting to infringe on Missourians’ Second Amendment rights,” Chris Nuelle, spokesman for Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, said in a statement Wednesday. "We have and will continue to vociferously defend those Second Amendment rights, while prosecuting violent crime through our Safer Streets Initiative.”
Missouri’s Republican leaders earlier pushed back against DOJ claims that the state’s new gun-enforcement law illegally conflicts with federal law.
“We will reject any attempt by the federal government to circumvent the fundamental right Missourians have to keep and bear arms to protect themselves and their property,” Parson said in June. “Throughout my career, I have always stood for the Constitution and our Second Amendment rights, and that will not change today or any day.”
The law states that five categories of federal acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, rules, and regulations “shall be considered infringements on the people’s right to keep and bear arms,” as guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
Included among the federal laws that Missouri says cannot be enforced are ones requiring the registration or tracing of the ownership of firearms, accessories and ammunition; forbidding possession, ownership, or use of firearms by law-abiding citizens; and ordering the confiscation of firearms, accessories, or ammunition from law-abiding citizens.
The state law carries potential fines of $50,000 per occurrence for political subdivisions or law enforcement agencies that employ an officer who knowingly violates the law.
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