Federal judge is asking local Missouri police to enforce gun laws

US District Judge Brian Wimes ruled that the 2021 law is preempted by the federal government under the US Constitution’s primacy clause.

“At best, this law creates confusion among state law enforcement officers assigned to federal task force operations, and at worst it is prima facie unconstitutional,” Wimes wrote.

Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement he would appeal the verdict.

“As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which includes defending Missourians’ fundamental right to bear arms,” ​​Bailey said. “We are ready to defend this law in the highest court and we expect a better result in the eighth circuit.”

Missouri law had fined law enforcement agencies with officers who knowingly enforced federal gun laws without corresponding state laws $50,000 per offending officer.

Federal laws with no similar laws in Missouri include gun registration and tracking laws and firearm possession by some domestic abusers.

The Missouri law conflict destroyed a crime-fighting partnership with U.S. attorneys that Missouri’s former Republican attorney general, now Sen. Eric Schmitt, touted for years. As part of Schmitt’s Safer Streets initiative, attorneys from his office were appointed as assistant US attorneys to help prosecute violent crimes.

The Justice Department, which sued last year to overturn the Missouri law, said the Missouri State Crime Lab, run by the Highway Patrol, refused to process evidence that would help the federal firearms attorney’s office after the law went into effect.

The Missouri Information and Analysis Center, also under the Highway Patrol, stopped working with federal agencies investigating state firearms crimes. And the Highway Patrol, along with many other agencies, has halted concerted efforts to enforce federal gun laws.

Wimes said police can now work with federal partners without worrying about violating the invalid law.

“State and local law enforcement officials in Missouri can lawfully participate in joint federal task forces, assist in the investigation and enforcement of federal firearms crimes, and share information fully with the federal government without fear of penalties under HB 85,” the judge wrote.

Several Missouri prosecutors have testified against the law, saying it jeopardizes investigations and prosecutions against serious offenders while making state and local officials civilly liable.

“In light of today’s ruling, Missouri prosecutors and our state and local law enforcement partners look forward to continuing to enlist federal assistance, as appropriate, to apprehend and punish violent offenders who endanger our state’s citizens,” the statement said. “Police and prosecutors will return to their jobs without fear of losing their jobs or being held personally liable to offenders for doing vital work to protect our communities.”

Republican lawmakers who helped pass the law said they were motivated by the potential for new gun restrictions under Democratic President Joe Biden, who last year signed into law the broadest gun violence law in decades.

Federal legislation tightened background checks for recent gun buyers, keeps firearms away from more domestic abusers, and helps states introduce warning signals that make it easier for authorities to remove guns from people deemed dangerous.

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Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth and Margaret Stafford contributed to this report from Kansas City, Missouri.

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