Supreme Court sides with Biden administration in fight over Missouri’s controversial gun law
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Biden administration in its battle with Missouri over the state’s “Second Amendment Preservation Act.” The ruling upholds a previous decision that placed a hold on Missouri’s ban on federal gun laws.
The law, signed by Republican Governor Mike Parson in 2021, imposes lawsuits and $50,000 civil penalties on police officers who attempt to enforce federal gun laws. Conservative officials in the state celebrated the law, claiming that it positioned Missouri as a state with one of the most relaxed gun laws in the nation.
On Friday, the Supreme Court concurred with a lower court ruling that blocked the law. This means that the law cannot be enforced while the litigation continues in the lower courts. Justice Clarence Thomas expressed his dissent, stating that he would have granted the state’s request for a stay.
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito clarified that the court’s ruling only applies to police officers and state employees, not private citizens who might sue under the law. Missouri allows private citizens to enforce the law through civil lawsuits, a mechanism that the Supreme Court declined to intervene in during a previous challenge to a Texas abortion law in 2021.
Missouri’s Attorney General, Republican Andrew Bailey, dismissed the decision as a “purely procedural matter” and expressed his commitment to defending Missourians’ Second Amendment rights. The Justice Department refrained from commenting on the ruling.
Although the ruling on Friday is technical in nature, it deals a blow to gun rights groups at a time when numerous gun restrictions across the country are being challenged following a landmark Supreme Court decision last year. In a 6-3 opinion, the Supreme Court expanded Second Amendment protections, invalidating a New York gun licensing law. The majority opinion in that case stated that gun regulations must align with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation to withstand legal challenges. This has triggered a wave of lawsuits against other gun laws, forcing federal courts to evaluate the connection of these prohibitions to history.
Federal laws currently require licensed manufacturers to engrave serial numbers on firearms and maintain sales records. These laws also prohibit felons, individuals with drug addictions, and others from owning guns.
Additionally, the Supreme Court is already deliberating a high-profile Second Amendment case that challenges a federal law preventing individuals with restraining orders from owning firearms. President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, faced charges under a provision of the law that prohibits gun ownership for people with drug addictions.
The ruling comes as a significant development in the national dialogue surrounding gun control, and its implications will be closely monitored as the legal battle continues in the lower courts.
[Contributing: Springfield News-Leader]