US Justice Department has filed a lawsuit Wednesday in an attempt to block Missouri’s enforcement of a gun rights bill passed last year. House Bill 85 (or the Second Amendment Preservation Act) is essentially a federal gun law that does not meet Missouri’s state equivalent.
Private citizens could bring $50,000 in lawsuits against local law enforcement if they feel the Second Amendment rights of their state have been violated.
“The Missouri law declares five categories of federal firearms laws ‘invalid’ and deters and penalizes their enforcement by federal, state and local law enforcement officers,”A statement was issued by the Justice Department. Missouri attorney general Merrick Garland claimed responsibility for the actions “impedes criminal enforcement operations”In the state.
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“A state cannot simply declare federal laws invalid,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, also said.
The law created confusion among officials according to the department. Many local authorities are not cooperating with the federal authorities, it said.
“Critical information that state and local offices previously shared with federal law enforcement officers to facilitate public safety and law enforcement is now frequently unavailable to federal law enforcement agencies,”The complaint says.
A spokesperson for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office responded to the suit by standing by the gun rights law and accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of putting “partisan politics ahead of public safety.”
Missouri’s law is also facing a challenge in the state’s Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case earlier this month.
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