Missouri’s Democratic Governor and the Republican led legislature are again nose-to-nose and toe-to-toe over gun control.
Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed what supporters of the bill call one of the most gun friendly in the country.
Local reaction was swift and heated.
The bill makes it a crime for federal agents to enforce federal gun laws in Missouri. It makes it a crime for a reporter to identify a gun owner. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker was livid the governor’s veto might be overridden by a two thirds vote of lawmakers.
The Democratic prosecutor was adamant that the bill violates the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, making federal law hold sway if there is a conflict with a state right.
She says it’s pure politics the bill was passed and is clearly unconstitutional--“it is a pro criminal bill. We utilize our federal to go after criminals who use guns, and what the Missouri legislature wanted us to go was to go without that tool. It’s ridiculous.”
House Speaker Tim Jones expressed shock at the override and said a decision whether to counter the Governor is at least a month in the future.