Missouri Looking at Resurrecting Gun Law Nullification Measure

A while back, Missouri passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act. On the surface, there was everything to like about it. It basically made it so federal gun control laws weren’t enforceable in Missouri.

Well, sorta.

It actually said that local cops couldn’t enforce them, which turns out to mean kind of the same thing, considering that the ATF doesn’t actually do all that much except frame people and write up charges so they can take credit for state and local cops’ arrests.

And now it may be coming back, and the usual suspects are up in arms about it.

Dozens of gun control advocates gathered in Jefferson City on Tuesday to lobby against several gun rights bills currently moving through the Missouri legislature, including a proposal to resurrect the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA).

The group, known as “Moms Demand Action,” is one of the country’s oldest and best-organized gun control organizations.

“We believe that it’s unconstitutional …and agree with the courts that have declared it utterly unconstitutional,” said Kristin Bowen, from the Columbia chapter of Moms Demand Action,

The original SAPA was passed by lawmakers in 2021.

Rep. Keri Ingle, a Democrat from Lee’s Summit, said, “…so save your breath when you wanna talk to me about ‘backing the blue’ and law enforcement, when they are telling you what they need …and what they do not want …emphatically.”

“Missouri has some of the weakest gun laws in the nation,” said Bowen. “Until we change that, we’re gonna come back here and we’re gonna have to fight.”

The SAPA reboot has cleared the House and is now headed to the Senate.

It’s entirely possible to “back the blue” and still stand up for people’s rights despite police saying they want something.

Let’s keep in mind that protecting people’s Fourth Amendment rights, which are generally supported by both sides, is something that gets in the way of police doing their jobs. Many officers would love to see that peeled back a little so their jobs would be a lot easier.

That doesn’t mean you do it.

What’s more, it’s not the police who are saying this. It’s some police chiefs, who are different animals entirely. I know, my late father was one, and there’s a lot more politics that goes into that role than with your ordinary street cop. You don’t become a police chief unless you’re willing to echo the official line from the city council.

Bown is more than welcome to come back and fight Missouri’s gun rights status, but thankfully, most people in the state aren’t thrilled with the ideas she thinks are “commonsense” or whatever.

Now, I have concerns about the SAPA, but that’s more from a legality standpoint than anything morally against the bill itself. If they come up with a version that can survive the inevitable legal challenge, then I want to see a version of it in all 50 states. I want to see our rights protected in just this way so that the federal bureaucracy that we’re learning is so absolutely corrupt on so many levels can’t just swoop in and take our rights away and co-opt local cops to do so.

And the fact that the anti-gunners are freaking out over it is just one more reason why.