The US Supreme Court recently declined to block a district court ruling that determined a Missouri law prohibiting federal firearm enforcement within the state is unconstitutional. The state of Missouri had appealed to Justice Brett Kavanaugh to delay the lower court’s decision.
Justice Clarence Thomas noted in the court’s order that he would have supported the application to the court. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito, on the other hand, shared their perspective in the order, stressing that they agreed with declining the application for a stay under the current circumstances.
In July 2021, Missouri Governor Michael L. Parson signed the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA) into law. This act essentially deemed certain federal gun laws as ‘invalid’ in the absence of any state-level counterparts in Missouri. Additionally, SAPA enforced a penalty of $50,000 for each attempt to implement the federal gun laws, leading the US DOJ to sue in order to challenge its constitutionality.
At the lower court level, US District Judge Brian C. Wimes ruled that SAPA violated the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution along with the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity. Judge Wimes determined that SAPA infringes on the Supremacy Clause by attempting to disregard federal law, which states that federal law takes precedence over state laws and prevents states from obstructing the federal government’s exercise of its constitutional powers. The Judge also ruled that the law breaches the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity by inhibiting the implementation of constitutionally enacted federal laws such as the National Firearms Act and the Gun Control Act, as under this doctrine, state legislatures cannot dismiss or violate federal statutes.