There are several notable gun-related cases that the Supreme Court of the United States will consider hearing after it reconvenes next month following its summer break.
While many are intriguing and could change the very face of U.S. gun laws forever, a case out of Missouri, Missouri v. United States, has some fascinating state’s rights twists and turns that could make it compelling enough for the SCOTUS justices to want to hear.
At issue is a state law passed first in 2021 in response to what its proponents described as federal overreach. The Second Amendment Preservation Act, or SAPA, utilizes the threat of private lawsuits to deter state officials, including local police officers, from enforcing federal gun laws.
When Gov. Mike Parson signed the law, he noted that the measure prohibits state and local cooperation with federal officials who attempt to enforce any laws, rules, orders or actions that violate the Second Amendment rights of Missourians.
“HB 85 puts those in Washington D.C. on notice that here in Missouri, we support responsible, law-abiding gun owners, and that we oppose government overreach and any unlawful efforts to limit our access to firearms,” Gov. Parson said at the time.
The bill’s original author, state Rep. Jered Taylor, said some within the federal government “use” state enforcement agencies and officers for things they shouldn’t be used for.
“They rely on us to enforce their laws,” Rep. Taylor said back while the bill was being debated. “Look at medical marijuana in the state of Missouri. This is exactly what we do with that. It’s exactly what sanctuary cities use.”
The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the state to block enforcement of the law. At issue was whether the SAPA conflicts with or attempts to nullify federal law, as the lawsuits claim, or whether it’s a valid exercise of Missouri’s state legislative powers to deny any federal attempt to commandeer state manpower, as Missouri argued.
According to a report at yahoo.com/new, when the state first requested that the Supreme Court intervene in 2023, the justices declined to lift the preliminary injunction handed down by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier. That court ruling stated: “The ‘Second Amendment Preservation Act’ states that certain federal laws are ‘invalid to this state,’ but a State cannot invalidate federal law to itself. Missouri does not seriously contest these bedrock principles of our constitutional structure.”
Now, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are waiting to see if the Supreme Court will review the case this time around. Of course, only time will tell the answer to that question. If the court chooses to hear the case, it will be an interesting one to watch.
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