Jefferson City, MO — We’ve been tracking Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, or SAPA legislation since last year. Missouri has two rock-solid pro-gun legislators, Senator Eric Burlison and Representative Jered Taylor, who are advancing the bill that would nullify all federal gun control in the state!
We reported last week that the bill (H.B. 85/S.B. 39) had sailed through the House by a vote of 107 to 43. The buzz around the Capitol is that the SAPA bill will be heard in the Senate any day, as it’s already gotten a ‘do pass’ designation from the original committee that heard the bill.
From here, it needs to go through one more committee vote and then onto the Senate floor for a full vote.
It’s looking more and more like Missouri will be the first state in the country to pass this groundbreaking legislation!
But as the prospect of this bill passing grew closer, the Missouri Sheriff’s Association come out against it, saying it was going to hamper their efforts to fight crime!
This isn’t the first time that the Missouri Sheriff’s Association has come out against pro-gun bills. The Missouri Firearms Coalition reported to their members this week saying that the M.S.A. has a history of doing this to gun owners:
Don’t forget, this is far from the first time the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association has tried to block pro-gun legislation.
>>> In 2020, the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association worked with anti-gun moderates in the Senate to make sure that then-Senator Libla gutted the bill with a harmful amendment, killing it.
>>> In 2016, the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association opposed our Constitutional Carry legislation. They were outraged that they might lose revenue from not processing as many permit applications. To them, it’s always about the money.
>>> In 2016, the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association also opposed Stand-Your-Ground legislation. Thankfully, they lost this fight, but had they won, you would have been forced to retreat from dangerous criminals!
>>> In 2013, the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association opposed a version of SAPA legislation (H.B. 436) and ensured that then-Governor Nixon’s veto was not overridden.
And even when they don’t publicly attack pro-gun bills like the ones above, they work behind the scenes and try to kill gun bills using a whisper campaign — like they tried to do with Missouri’s Shall Issue law years ago!
The truth is that NO ONE in the Capitol can recall a time when the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association championed a gun bill.
‘What’s Going On Here? My Sheriff Likes SAPA!’
Many gun owners know their local sheriffs or deputies and report that great numbers of them are staunchly pro gun and even support this new legislation!
That might be true, but gun owners across the country need to remember that their state sheriff’s association is always a political organization — complete with a group of lobbyists in their Capitol.
As a political entity, they are often deeply anti-gun for a variety of reasons.
It can be lost revenue as in the case of doing away with concealed carry permits by passing Constitutional Carry — or in losing federal funding for not enforcing federal gun laws.
They also don’t like that SAPA law would gun owners to civilly sue them and other government officials who enforce tyrannical gun control — but the answer to that is simple!
If they obey Missouri’s SAPA law once it’s passed, they have nothing to worry about!
But even better, this SAPA legislation would empower those freedom-loving Sheriffs and officers who do NOT want to enforce Joe Biden’s federal gun control!
As the Missouri Firearms Coalition points out:
…SAPA legislation is designed to protect Missouri’s peace officers who are worried about having to choose between violating their oath of office (enforcing federal gun control) and losing their jobs if they refuse to carry out these orders.
This attack from the Missouri Sheriff’s Association and their lobbyists is a bump in the road for SAPA, but thanks to the grassroots gun owners in Missouri who have pounded on their legislators with calls, emails and petitions, this bill is plowing forward!
We expect it to make pro-gun history in a few short weeks!
What Is SAPA Legislation?
SAPA legislation would nullify all federal gun control laws by requiring state law enforcement officers and state officials to only enforce state laws regarding firearms, ammo, and accessories — and only if that state law complies with the Second Amendment. This bill essentially makes the entire state of Missouri into a second amendment sanctuary!
How can they do that?
SAPA legislation is based on the well-established ‘anti-commandeering doctrine’ which states that the federal government may not simply ‘commandeer’ the state’s legislative authority and force them to submit to federal laws that conflict with state law.
The idea that the states are separate legal entities that have the right to tell the federal government to pound sand has been upheld by the Supreme Court repeatedly — by conservative and liberal justices alike — going back hundreds of years.
That means that if Joe Biden and his radical Democrat legislature pass a federal law requiring the confiscation of the AR-15 and all magazines that hold over ten rounds of ammunition, that state’s city, state, and county authorities would be required to ignore it.
And if they tried to enforce federal law anyway — think of some liberal Chief of Police in an urban area — the gun owner whose rights were violated could civilly sue the offending official!
Grassroots Gun Owners Are Changing The Gun Rights Landscape
Senator Eric Burlison and Representative Jered Taylor have been immune to pressure from moderate Republicans to join them in compromising on gun rights in part because the two gun rights champions have worked hand-in-glove with the state’s largest and most powerful gun rights organization, the Missouri Firearms Coalition.
This organization is behind several key primary victories that we reported on earlier this fall. From kicking out loser RINOs to helping real pro-gun candidates win, MOFC and her members and supporters really flexed their muscle on the political landscape in 2020.
Thanks to political protection from MOFC — and the fact that tens of thousands of gun owners in the state are kept up to day by the gun group — the two legislators have been able to plow past any moderate Republicans who might have wanted to water down the bill.