Missouri gun law is scheduled to remain in effect during the court battle

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri law barring local police from enforcing federal gun laws remains in effect as a lawsuit is appealed.

US District Judge Brian Wimes earlier this weekstruck down the lawas an unconstitutional transgression of the federal vis-à-vis the state. After Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed, Wimes ruled that the law can remain in effect pending an appeals court hearing the case.

Missouri law fines law enforcement officials who knowingly enforce 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 Department of Justice said the Missouri State Crime Laboratory, operated by the Highway Patrol, has refused to process evidence that would aid the state’s prosecution of firearms after the law was enacted.

The Missouri Police Chiefs Association said in a statement the law creates confusion about “working with federal agency partners, hiring people who had worked for a federal agency, locating and returning stolen guns to their rightful owners, and removing Weapons from the hands of criminals and individuals who pose an imminent threat to themselves, family members or others around them.”

The City of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jackson County filed a separate lawsuit challenging the law in state court, which is pending.

The law was passed by the state’s Republican-led Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Parson in 2019.

Republican lawmakers who helpedhand over the billsaid 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.

GOP House Speaker Dean Plocher declined to comment as the lawsuit is going through the appeals process.

Democrats said they were not surprised the law was struck down.

“Those of us who were here when we had this debate kept telling them it was unconstitutional,” said Crystal Quade, leader of the House Democratic minority.

https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/missouri-gun-law-to-stay-in-effect-during-court-fight/ Missouri gun law is scheduled to remain in effect during the court battle