The Missouri House Thursday passed a bill that would re-enact a controversial gun rights law a federal court previously struck down as unconstitutional.
The legislature first passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act in 2021. The law would penalize Missouri police for enforcing federal gun laws.
That would include any federal laws intended to track, register, limit or control the sale or ownership of firearms.
Supporters of the bill say it protects Second Amendment rights and asserts Missouri’s rights as a state. Rep. Bill Hardwick, R-Dixon, is the sponsor of the legislation.
“If there’s a federal gun registry, state police should not enforce that,” Hardwick said while introducing the bill for the vote. “If there’s a federal rule about the amount of bullets that you can have in your home, the state police should not enforce that.”
Departments would be fined $50,000 per infraction.
Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee’s Summit, said the law would make it far more difficult for Missouri police to do their jobs, such as in cases where investigations cross state lines. Interstate criminal investigations are automatically the purview of federal law enforcement, which is particularly important given that Kansas City and St. Louis both sit on state borders.
“What we’ve heard from deputies across the state,” Ingle said, “as well as from police chiefs across the state, is that this ties their hands. And it makes it to where they cannot cooperate with federal law enforcement.”
Opponents also argued that the legislature was wasting time and tax money by attempting to re-enact a bill that had already been ruled unconstitutional.
“In a state where we are lowest or near lowest on healthcare, education, infrastructure, and a whole host of other items, this is what we’re spending our time doing,” said Rep. Jo Doll, D-St. Louis.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 100-51, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against.
The first version of the law was challenged in court by the Department of Justice under the Biden administration. It was struck down by a federal judge in 2023 for violating the supremacy clause of the US Constitution, which states that federal law always takes precedence over conflicting state laws. The decision was later upheld by a federal appeals court.
The US Supreme Court declined to take up the case, meaning the appeals court’s decision stood. It’s unclear what will happen if the state attempts to re-enact a law that was already overturned by the courts.
The new version of the bill passed by the House has some changes from the original law, but is substantively the same.
“I think the part that was removed from the original SAPA had to do with declaring federal law that conflicts with the Second Amendment as unconstitutional,” said House Speaker Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit. “What we're trying to say is, Missouri law enforcement should focus on enforcing Missouri laws.”
The bill now heads to the Senate. Patterson said that he expects the Senate to make changes to the legislation.
The River City Journalism Fund supports St. Louis Public Radio's Statehouse internship. Evy Lewis is the 2025 reporting intern. See rcjf.org for more information about the fund, which seeks to advance journalism in St. Louis.
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