AG Schmitt vows to fight federal lawsuit over gun law despite unpopularity among law enforcement

ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — The Missouri attorney general says he plans to fight a federal government’s lawsuit, all over a controversial law that many police departments claim makes it harder for them to do their jobs.

The Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA) went into effect last year. It bars local police from enforcing federal gun laws, and carries a potential penalty of $50,000 for a violation.

Earlier this week the Department of Justice sued the State of Missouri, naming Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt in the suit.

“When the general assembly passes a law that’s an expression of the will of the people and it’s my job to defend that,” Schmitt said.

According to the Department of Justice’s lawsuit, no state law can overrule federal law.

“The federal government cares about this case because this law has posed substantial threats to public safety. Because of [SAPA] it has become harder for us to investigate all manner of crime including violent crime in this state,” said Department of Justice Attorney Jeff Sandberg.

The Department of Justice’s lawsuit claims SAPA has a “harmful impact” and “severely impairs federal criminal law enforcement operations within the state.”

“The Biden Justice Department is playing politics with public safety,” Schmitt added. “You can both fight violent crime and protect Second Amendment rights at the same time,” Schmitt said.

Many law enforcement agencies have been outspoken against the law, including the O’Fallon, Missouri police chief who resigned over it last year.

“People are going to be able to file frivolous lawsuits against good cops out there doing their jobs trying to protect the good citizens of this community,” said former O’Fallon Police Chief Philip Dupuis during an interview with News 4 last year.

There’s also a lawsuit from St. Louis City, St. Louis County and Jackson County, all challenging the law. That case is now at the Missouri Supreme Court.

When News 4 asked Schmitt if he could specifically point to law enforcement in support of SAPA, Schmitt had the following answer.

“We’ve heard from law enforcement that can actually do their — essentially SAPA if you don’t know, says that local law enforcement, state law enforcement can’t enforce state gun laws that aren’t Missouri gun laws, so most of them, a wide majority of them are continuing to do that,” Schmitt said.

Gov. Mike Parson, who signed the law and is being sued over it, recently told News 4 he thinks it should be revisited.