KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas applauded a federal judge's ruling Tuesday that said Missouri's 2nd Amendment Preservation Act is unconstitutional.
The law, signed by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson in 2021, restricted local law enforcement in the state from from enforcing federal gun laws.
It also allowed law-enforcement officers who violated the law to be fined $50,000, which created confusion for some departments about what kind of cooperative investigations were allowed.
Federal agents could still enforce federal laws under the law, which Lucas said was frowned upon by local law enforcement with whom he has communicated.
"There is not a single member of the law enforcement community — local, state or federal — that I’ve talked to that said this was the type of law that made anyone safer," Lucas said.
He also said the law hindered local law enforcement's ability to crack down on gun violence, which continues plaguing Kansas City and other parts of Missouri.
"It’s set us back, and in a state that deals with an epidemic of violent crime, particularly gun related homicides, this is the sort of thing that needs to be buried in past history," he said.
The Missouri Attorney General's Office immediately said it would appeal the judge's ruling.
"As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which includes defending Missourians’ fundamental right to bear arms," Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement. "We are prepared to defend this statute to the highest court and we anticipate a better result at the Eighth Circuit. The Second Amendment is what makes the rest of the amendments possible. If the state legislature wants to expand upon the foundational rights codified in the Second Amendment, they have the authority to do that. But SAPA is also about the Tenth Amendment. It’s about federalism and individual liberty, so we will be appealing the court’s ruling.”
Parson's office said it will support Bailey's appeal.
"Governor Parson has always been a strong advocate for Second Amendment rights and a champion for law enforcement, and he always will be," Parson's communications director, Kelli Jones, said in an email to KSHB 41. "Governor Parson supports Attorney General Bailey as he works through the appellate process and is committed to administering the law as enacted by the General Assembly and interpreted by the Judiciary.
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