Originally published April 26, 2023 8:04 pm PDT
Officials in Missouri are refusing to collaborate with the federal government concerning gun control laws.
QUICK FACTS:
- Six top officials in Camden County, Missouri are refusing to collaborate with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), saying the agency is pushing “unconstitutional” gun control laws.
- “Under the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine, Camden County was the first county in Missouri, and possibly in the country, to pass an ordinance prohibiting any county employee from assisting your unconstitutional agency in violating the rights of our citizens,” Camden County presiding commissioner Ike Skelton wrote in the letter to ATF.
- According to Skelton, the county has received multiple emails from the ATF requesting information about residents and their firearms permit status.
- “Members of Camden County are not to assist any federal agency in the enforcement or application of so-called firearm laws or rules,” Skelton continued.
CAMDEN COUNTY COMMISSIONER IKE SKELTON ON THE ATF BEING ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’:
“Any and all federal firearms laws, so-called laws, in my opinion, and many others’ opinion, are unconstitutional,” Skelton said.
BACKGROUND:
- Last month, Obama-appointed federal judge Brian Wimes ruled the Missouri law banning local police from enforcing federal gun laws as unconstitutional.
- The law, titled the Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2021, gave Missourians the right to sue local and state officials helping federal agencies infringing Second Amendment rights.
- “At best, this statute causes confusion among state law enforcement officials who are deputized for federal task force operations, and at worst, is unconstitutional on its face,” Wimes wrote at the time.
- Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he would appeal the ruling and “protect” Missourians.
- “As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which includes defending Missourians’ fundamental right to bear arms,” Bailey said. “We are prepared to defend this statute to the highest court, and we anticipate a better result at the Eighth Circuit.”
