A federal appeals court has overturned Missouri’s “Second Amendment Protection Act,” a measure that was passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Parson back in 2021.
The law, introduced and passed in response to several anticipated bills that would be overreach on Second Amendment freedoms during the early days of the Biden administration, forbade police from enforcing federal gun laws that don’t have an equivalent state law. Law enforcement agencies with officers who knowingly enforced federal gun laws without equivalent state laws faced a fine of $50,000 per violating officer.
At the time, Gov. Parson said the unique law “draws a line in the sand and demonstrates our commitment to 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.”
On Monday, however, a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld last year’s district court ruling and found that the Missouri law violated the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, which states that federal law takes precedence over state laws.
“A State cannot invalidate federal law to itself,” 8th Circuit Chief Judge Steven Colloton wrote in the ruling. “Missouri does not seriously contest these bedrock principles of our constitutional structure.”
Instead, according to the ruling, the state of Missouri used two different tactics in arguing the case. First, it argued that the federal government could not sue to enforce the supremacy clause because it lacks a cause of action. Second, attorneys for the state argued that the act is constitutional because the state may constitutionally withdraw the authority of state officers to enforce federal law.
“While there is no implied right of action under the Supremacy Clause, there is an equitable tradition of suits to enjoin unconstitutional actions by state actors,” the ruling stated. “That Missouri may lawfully withhold its assistance from federal law enforcement, however, does not mean that the State may do so by purporting to invalidate federal law.”
The ruling concluded: “The court thus cannot give effect to any provision of the Act without enforcing Missouri’s attempt to invalidate federal law. Accordingly, the district court’s order enjoining state officials from implementing and enforcing the Act was proper. The judgement of the district court is affirmed.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a stalwart Second Amendment supporter, said in a statement that he is reviewing the decision.
“I will always fight for Missourians’ Second Amendment rights,” Bailey added.
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