Court tosses Missouri law that barred police from enforcing federal gun laws

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Federal appellate judges overturned a Missouri law Monday that banned police from enforcing some federal gun laws.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the Missouri law violated a section of the U.S. Constitution known as the supremacy clause, which asserts that federal law takes precedence over state laws.

“A State cannot invalidate federal law to itself,” 8th Circuit Chief Judge Steven Colloton wrote in the ruling.

Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement that his office was reviewing the decision. “I will always fight for Missourians’ Second Amendment rights,” he said.

The U.S. Justice Department, which filed the lawsuit against Missouri, declined to comment.

The Missouri law forbade police from enforcing federal gun laws that don’t have an equivalent state law. Law enforcement agencies with officers who knowingly enforced federal gun laws without equivalent state laws faced a fine of $50,000 per violating officer.

Federal laws without similar Missouri laws include statutes covering weapons registration and tracking, and possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders.

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