KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Wednesday preventing Missouri from enforcing House Bill 85.
The law, signed in June 2021, “declares five categories of federal firearms laws ‘invalid’ and deters and penalizes their enforcement by federal, state and local law enforcement officers,” according to the Department of Justice.
The suit's critique of HB 85 includes that it is invalid under the Supremacy Clause, is preempted by federal law and violates the doctrine of internal governmental immunity.
The Missouri Supreme Courtheard arguments on Feb. 7about the constitutionality of the law that would forbid local law enforcement from enforcing federal gun laws.
Previously, a lower court judge rejected a challenge from St. Louis city and county officials as well as Kansas City officials.
The Associated Press reported strong opposition from state and federal departments because the law “hampers criminal investigations and hurts cooperation between federal and local investigators.”
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice cited the same complaint. Since it became effective, federal law enforcement agencies within the state reported enforcing federal firearms laws in Missouri has “grown more difficult.”
“This act impedes criminal law enforcement operations in Missouri,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a news release. “The United States will work to ensure that our state and local law enforcement partners are not penalized for doing their jobs to keep our communities safe.”
Additionally, the DOJ wrote that the law penalizes individuals working on joint federal-state law enforcement task forces as well as federal employees who are penalized “if they enforced the purportedly invalid laws.” Although, they say the state judiciary protects against the “federal laws declared invalid.”
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt released a statement in response to the lawsuit in which he says his office will continue to fight the initiative:
“After their disastrous arguments in the Missouri Supreme Court last week, the Biden Department of Justice has now filed yet another partisan lawsuit that seeks to attack Missourians’ Second Amendment rights. Unfortunately, the Biden DOJ has used this lawsuit as a pretext for them to pull the plug on our successful and innovative federal-state crime fighting partnership, the Safer Streets Initiative. Since I launched the Safer Streets Initiative in 2019, we’ve filed over 650 charges against nearly 390 defendants with a conviction rate of roughly 98%. My Office has fought to continue the initiative, but this initiative has been suspended solely because of the Biden Administration’s actions. Time and again, the Biden Administration has put partisan politics ahead of public safety. Make no mistake, the law is on our side in this case, and I intend to beat the Biden Administration in court once again.”
