The United States Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA), a piece of firearms legislation that bans local and state authorities from enforcing federal firearms laws without an equivalent state law and prohibits them from cooperating with federal authorities on related investigations. The measure, as written, comes with a sharp set of teeth, as it affords private parties the right to sue over violations and seek penalties of up to $50,000 against individual officers. Further, SAPA would block all Missouri agencies and law enforcement from hiring any person who has attempted to enforce those laws as a federal employee.
I can hear you thinking that you don’t see what the problem is, and that some Constitutional accountability is in order. From your lips to God’s ears, my friends, because I couldn’t agree more. However, accountability doesn’t work in both directions with a federal government that will put you in prison for the difference between a stock and a brace, or a 14.5-inch versus a 16-inch barrel, or a sound reduction device that protects your hearing.
The original SAPA bill was signed into law in August 2021; however, the Justice Department under the Biden administration filed a lawsuit claiming the law violated the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which asserts that federal law takes precedence over state law. SAPA was rejected by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, leading to Missouri’s emergency request to the United States Supreme Court. In 2023, justices refused to intervene, effectively bolstering the Eighth Circuit’s decision and killing the legislation, leaving a legal battle between the state and federal government to play out.
A revised SAPA then reappeared in January 2025, with legislators promising the same effect while announcing that the new version of the bill addressed Eighth Circuit issues from the former. The case ultimately found its way back to the Supreme Court and was once again rejected on October 6th.
The irony, hypocrisy, and abject corruption speak volumes, but I’ll touch on the finer points lest this article turn into a book. First, federal measures like the NFA, GCA, and the Hughes Amendment represent clear violations of the Bill of Rights, full stop. So the feds decide to violate the plain text of the Second Amendment, then sue over a violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. Make no mistake, this is the United States government telling you to your face that they are above the law. They want you to know they are entitled to violate any law they please, up to and including Constitutional law, but the rest of us can kick rocks. I’ll leave that there for the folks who scoff at the idea that the government can go tyrannical against American citizens, because they already have.
How about marijuana laws? In the United States, cannabis is legal in 40 of 50 states for medical use and 24 states for recreational use, even though it is still illegal under federal law and remains classified as a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act, prohibiting its use for any purpose. However, this federal prohibition is not enforced against activities legalized by states that have implemented their own medical and recreational cannabis programs, many of which have dispensaries open to the public within a stone’s throw of anywhere you happen to stand at the moment. This is the feds telling you to get high, get the munchies, play video games all day, and never challenge their authority. The picture’s getting pretty clear now, right?
By the way, this isn’t a Biden administration lawsuit anymore, is it? This isn’t a Merrick Garland DOJ either. The ongoing legal battle now falls completely under the Trump Administration. It is President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi carrying that torch. Let that sink in.
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