The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the constitutionality of a law proponents refer to as The Second Amendment Preservation Act Monday. The law prevents several federal gun control measures from being enforced in the state.
Law enforcement agencies in Saint Louis, Saint Louis County, and Jackson County have asked the courts to block the law. They argue - among other things - that the new law prevents them from cooperating fully with federal law enforcement.
Jeffrey Sandberg, a U.S. attorney, says state and local law enforcement agencies fear incurring fifty thousand dollars penalties created for violating the law.
"You have the Missouri State Highway patrolman who has stopped the federal fugitive who was just passing through Missouri, has no connection to the state, but lets that person go at a traffic stop, even though he knows he's a federal fugitive because he fears the potential consequences to his agency," said Sandberg.
John Sauer, Solicitor General for the state of Missouri, asked the court to uphold a lower court’s verdict, which rejected the local governments’ arguments.
He says that the law doesn’t explicitly prevent Missouri law enforcement from participating in federal resources such as federal background check databases and the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network. He said they didn’t seek clarification on those points when the case was previously heard.
"No one went into the trial court and said, Hey, please tell us whether this is covered by the statute. So we can give clarity to the law enforcement," said Sauer.
The state also argued that the Supreme Court is the wrong venue for this case, and that several other pending lawsuits could resolve the issues. The court will rule in the coming weeks.
