Lawmakers Propose Gun Laws

Despite the fact that Missouri lawmakers had previously called gun control a federal issue, some have already decided to file bills that would negate President Obama’s recommendations.Currently, more than two dozen bills have been filed. Two of them seek to block all gun control from the federal government.House Bill 170 tried to block any federal law restricting semi-automatic gun. The bill would make it a felony for state and federal agents to enforce a ban on guns in Missouri. Another similar bill was just filed in the Senate Wednesday.”We in Missouri need to stand up and draw a line to the federal government’s encroachment and pending encroachment of our Second Amendment,” said Rep. Casey Guernsey (R), who is sponsoring the highly-debated House Bill 170.”The legislation would flat out make it a felony for any state or federal agent to come into Missouri and confiscate our guns that are held by law-abidding citizens,” said Rep. Guernsey.Some of the Democratic lawmakers say federal laws would supersede state laws.”Yeah, certainly, that’s why we added language in the bill to give the attorney general the ability to protect the citizens under this legislation,” said Rep. Guernsey.”This is nuts,” said Rep. Stephen Webber (D). “The federal law can be enforced in Missouri. We’ve seen this a couple times, with healthcare last year, it’s called nullification, where it says the state doesn’t have to follow the federal law, you can’t do that.””Really, it’s kind of appalling that Democrats and a lot of people look at attempts like this and shrug it off as being ridiculous,” countered Rep. Guernsey. “When in fact, the states do have the rights under the 10th Amendment.”The bill already has 60 co-sponsors, but Rep. Webber believes this has just gone too far. “This bill is literally one step away from secession,” said Rep. Webber. “You can’t say the state of Missouri is not going to obey the federal law. If the federal law is unconstitutional, then the Supreme Court should throw the federal law out, but if it is constitutional and it’s been upheld by the Supreme Court, then you have to follow it in the state of Missouri, you can’t not follow it.” “I have no doubt that if this is enacted it will probably wind up in courts, but I’m perfectly willing to put our state in the position to fight that,” Rep. Guernsey said. Missouri is just one of a few states that have filed this type of legislation. Texas and Wyoming also have similar bills.