Cities make their case to Missouri Supreme Court that the state's gun law is unconstitutional

A lawyer representing St. Louis told the Missouri Supreme Court on Monday that a state law that prohibits the enforcement of federal gun regulations was unconstitutional and an “unintelligible statute” that has confused law enforcement.

Robert Dierker, deputy St. Louis city counselor, took issue before the state’s highest court with the Second Amendment Preservation Act. The court heard an appeal by St. Louis and Jackson County, which had unsuccessfully tried to persuade a Cole County judge to block the law.

SAPA prohibits the enforcement of federal gun regulations by Missouri law enforcement personnel and allows anyone to sue police departments for up to $50,000 if they believe their firearms rights have been infringed.

“I would say that the separation of power problems looms very large in this case,” Dierker said. “The plain language of the statute says that a range of ill-defined — indeed undefined — federal laws regulations infringe the Second Amendment and will not be enforced in Missouri.”

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2022-02-07/cities-make-their-case-to-supreme-court-that-missouri-gun-law-is-unconstitutional