KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced Friday he’s filed a lawsuit against Jackson County for a firearms ordinance passed last year by the County Legislature.
“Today’s lawsuit from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was inevitable,” County Executive Frank White said in a statement Friday afternoon. “Its outcome is just as certain.”
LINK | Read the lawsuit
County legislators spent most of 2024 crafting the legislation that, among other things, restricts 18-21-year-olds from buying pistols or semiautomatic rifles.
Legislators passed the ordinance in November and overrode a veto from White, clearing the way for the ordinance to be enacted.
LINK | Read the ordinance
As legislators were debating the item last fall, White asked the County Counselor’s office to issue an opinion on the legality of the ordinance. The opinion concluded the ordinance could violate state law.
“Just as predicted, Jackson County taxpayers are footing the bill for what is nothing more than a performative political act,” White said in his statement.
In announcing his lawsuit earlier Friday, the attorney general called the ordinance unlawful.
“We’re standing up for the rule of law and the rights of every citizen,” Bailey said.
Bailey’s lawsuit lists an 18-year-old Missouri resident, Leonard Wilson, Jr., Gun Owners of America, Inc., and the Gun Owners Foundation as plaintiffs. Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte and Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Melesa Johnson were named as defendants.
The legislation was first brought up after the tragic Chiefs' Superbowl Parade fatal shooting in 2024.
—
