Legislation aims to protect Second Amendment Rights in Missouri
BY: MARY WILSON
Opinions Editor
The Missouri Legislature is back in session, and our elected representatives have introduced a variety of bills. These bills cover everything from controversial issues such as the Second Amendment and abortion to public schools. One bill in particular, Missouri House Bill 85, is widely monitored. The Montage interviewed Representative Jered Taylor, republican, of the state’s 139th district.
Missouri House Bill 85 creates “additional protections to the right to bear arms.” Its full title is “Establishes the ‘Second Amendment Preservation Act,’ which creates additional protections to the right to bear arms.” Rep. Jered Taylor, a republican, sponsors the bill.
According to the bill text, HB85 “declares that all federal acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, court orders, rules and regulations, whether past, present or future, that infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution must be invalid in this state.”
The bill continues, saying that this includes “those that impose a tax, levy, fee or stamp on these items as specified in the bill, require the registration or tracking of these items or their owners; prohibit the possession, ownership, use or transfer of a firearm; or order the confiscation of these items.”
This bill, if signed into law, would mean that the state of Missouri is exempt from any gun control passed in the federal government, including by executive order.
Taylor said that similar legislation had been passed in 2013 and 2014 but had been vetoed by then-governor Nixon. The veto override was missed by one vote.
Taylor said that his goal with this legislation is to “protect the Second Amendment Rights of Missourians.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2017, 1,307 Missourians died because of gun violence, according to a St. Louis Public Radio web article published in 2019.
When asked about the 1,307 Missourians who died of gun violence in Missouri in 2017, Taylor said that the issue is with prosecution. “What are the prosecutors doing? Nothing,” said Taylor.
Taylor said it was important for individuals to protect themselves. “The gun is not the problem,” Taylor said. “The gun is a tool…. just like any tool that can be used inappropriately.”
In addition, the bill states that “no person, including a public officer or state employee of this state or any political subdivision of this state, can have authority to enforce or attempt to enforce any federal laws, orders, or rules infringing on the right to keep and bear arms.”
Taylor said that “state agencies support those changes” and that he has had “numerous law officers [say that they] support this legislation.” Taylor did say that some of the sheriffs organizations are in opposition, however, “The guys on the street, they’re in full support.”
