KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt will fight "tooth and nail" to defend rights protected under the Second Amendment, according to a letter sent to the Department of Justice.
"Missouri is not attempting to nullify federal law," Parson and Schmitt wrote Thursday, responding to the DOJ stating Missouri can't ignore federal gun laws. "Instead, Missouri is defending its people from federal government overreach by prohibiting state and local law enforcement agencies from being used by the federal government to infringe Missourians' right to keep and bear arms."
Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton sent a letter on Wednesday to Parson and Schmitt in response to Parson signing into law the Second Amendment Preservation Act over the weekend.
The act prohibits local law enforcement agencies from enforcing federal gun laws.
Local agencies who do enforce the law could face a $50,000 fine.
In the letter, Boynton said the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution overrules the Second Amendment Presevervation Act.
However, Parson and Schmitt said in their letter that the the state law isn't an attempt to overrule federal law.
Boynton said in the DOJ's letter that Parson and Schmitt now have to clarify the law to the Federal government.
Parson and Schmitt said the clarification request is "riddled with with a misunderstanding of the law and falsehoods."
