COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri law enforcement officials are asking the General Assembly to revise the state’s new Second Amendment act that prohibits them from helping enforce certain federal gun laws, telling lawmakers that it is hindering their ability to conduct criminal investigations.
The law’s “wording and structure have caused confusion and potentially unintended legal implications,” the Missouri Police Chiefs Association (MPCA) wrote in an October letter to Republican legislative leaders and the bill’s sponsors.
The Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA), which Gov. Mike Parson signed in June, declares “invalid” many federal gun regulations that don’t have an equivalent in Missouri law. These include statutes covering weapons registration and tracking, and possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders.
Local departments are barred from enforcing them, or risk being sued for $50,000 by private citizens who believe their Second Amendment rights have been violated. Police are also prohibited from giving “material aid and support” to federal agents and prosecutors in enforcing those “invalid” laws on “law-abiding citizens” — defined as those who Missouri law permits to have a gun.
In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Star, the MPCA proposes specifying that the law would only apply to new federal gun restrictions approved after this past August, and that it doesn’t apply to suspects whom police encounter committing a crime.
It also proposes clarifying which weapons-related federal crimes local police are allowed to help enforce. The current law allows them to help enforce gun restrictions that are similar to those in Missouri law, as long as those charges are “merely ancillary” to another criminal charge — wording that police groups have called vague.
“It is our desire to protect the rights of ALL Missourians while protecting officers from frivolous civil litigation related to the continued joint endeavors with our federal partners,” the association wrote. “We look forward to working with you and your fellow lawmakers to address some clarifications in the law and eliminate those unintended consequences without derailing the intent of SAPA.”
MPCA director Robert Shockey, who is Arnold police chief, declined to be interviewed about the requests.
Parson has indicated he’s open to amending the law, which was upheld in Cole County court this year in a case now being appealed to the state Supreme Court. One of the sponsors, Sen. Eric Burlison of Battlefield, appears to have discussed concerns with the police chiefs association.
In an email obtained by The Star, a Burlison staffer wrote to Shockey on Oct. 7 asking him to summarize some of his concerns “so we can properly address” them.
But it remains unclear whether Republican lawmakers will touch SAPA, a victory that gun rights activists sought for nearly a decade, during an election year in which GOP politicians are expected to heavily tout their opposition to the Biden administration.
Burlison, who is running for Congress, and the law’s other sponsor, Rep. Jered Taylor of Republic, have called the reactions of Missouri police, such as their withdrawal from federal partnerships, unnecessary. Taylor told “60 Minutes” in a story that aired earlier this month that he is “not willing to even consider [changes to the law] at this point.”
Neither lawmaker nor a spokeswoman for Parson responded to a request for comment on the police association’s proposals.
Prosecutors frustrated
Envisioned by its authors as a pre-emptive move against future gun control measures from the Biden administration, SAPA has prompted several Missouri agencies to halt common practices that involve working with the federal government. Some police have complained the law’s open-ended wording leaves them vulnerable to lawsuits for a wide variety of actions that may only tangentially involve federal personnel, or firearms.
Police departments statewide have withdrawn a dozen officers from partnerships with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives. Some departments, including Columbia, have cut off the bureau from ballistics information and other evidence in shootings, federal officials say.
The law has frustrated federal prosecutors whose cases are often jointly investigated by federal agents and local officers. The Star reported in July that one top federal law enforcement official in Kansas City told local police the Justice Department would subpoena them for cooperation in cases, in an effort to shield them from liability for their assistance.
Concerned local police chiefs have also reacted to the law by withdrawing from partnerships largely unrelated to guns. These include drug task forces covering multiple jurisdictions that receive federal funding but are run by the state, The Star has learned.
Last month, both the Rolla Police Department and the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department left the South Central Drug Task Force because it works with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration.
SAPA “has language concerning having personnel in local task forces that have a Federal nexus (Works with DEA or other Federal Agencies),” Rolla police chief Sean Fagan wrote in an Oct. 13 email pulling his detective from the task force. “This action is being done on the advice of the Attorney for Missouri Chiefs of Police Association and due to the new Second Amendment [Preservation] Act.”
Arnold police did the same, leaving the Jefferson County Municipal Enforcement Group Drug Task Force.
In addition, “I have received another telephone call from another Chief citing concerns over SAPA, but our task force is limiting enforcement of gun investigations to ensure compliance,” Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said in an email to The Star.
Lawmakers downplay concerns
Other departments, such as the one in Ballwin, say they are still working with federal agents, but only the portions of cases that don’t involve guns.
Also concerning police chiefs is the question of whether, under the new law, they can run reports of a stolen gun or other weapons-related crimes through the National Crime Information Center, a massive Justice Department database. Some departments fear entering information about any gun-related crimes could be construed as helping the federal government “track” weapons.
A September policy adopted by the police department in the small eastern Missouri town of Byrnes Mill prohibits officers from using “any federal database to run serial numbers of weapons for theft response or ownership response,” including the NCIC and e-Trace, an ATF application that tracks guns used in violent crimes.
Byrnes Mill officers also are barred from referring any case involving a weapon to a federal prosecutor or even communicating in writing with federal agents without approval.
The letter was sent to the law’s sponsors but addressed to Senate President Dave Schatz and House Speaker Rob Vescovo.
Vescovo did not respond to a request for comment. Schatz, a Sullivan Republican who is running for U.S. Senate, downplayed the association’s concerns in a written statement Friday.
“I am aware of the Police Chiefs Association concerns about SAPA. I am also aware of other law enforcement individuals and groups who believe SAPA shouldn’t be changed,” he said. “At the end of the day, we will always protect the Second Amendment, defend the constitutional rights of all Missourians, and ensure law enforcement has the tools necessary to do their job effectively.”
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(The Kansas City Star’s Judy Thomas contributed to this report.)
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