Republican Senators say they’re drawing a line in the sand when it comes to preserving gun rights in Missouri.
Sen. Brian Nieves (R-Washington) has been known to be an avid gun supporter … a proponent of concealing weapons in the capitol and talking about how any kind of gun fits into the second amendment, even assault rifles, to local press. (See video at bottom of article.)
He’s the chairman of the General Laws Committee, which heard testimony on a bill that says any federal law enacted to strengthen regulations on guns would be illegal to enforce in Missouri.
Jeff Overstreet owns a manufacturing plant in Howard County, which supplies firearms to his retail store in Columbia. He says if Missouri passed Sen. Brian Munzlinger’s bill to exempt Missouri from any federal restrictions on types of firearms or ammunition, his business would be safe to operate and continue to succeed.
Senator Ryan Silvey of Kansas City says he supports the bill, but wants clarity on how it would work. Munzlinger — a farmer from Northeast Missouri — says if federal agents were to try to enforce a federal guns mandate in Missouri, county sheriffs would be in charge of upholding Missouri law, since they’re the chief law enforcement officer in each county.
Several people showed up to the Senate General Laws Committee hearing to voice their support for a bill that preserves gun rights in Missouri. One man showed up to testify against it … a young law student from Kansas City. Nieves challenged him on the issue of whether states should always uphold federal law, whether, hypothetically, if the federal government wanted to reinstate slavery, “What would we do?”
The student, Caleb Files, told him the morality of slavery versus the morality of gun rights is vastly different. Nieves agrees, but says at some point, a line must be drawn in the sand.
AUDIO: Listen to the committee hearing (1:18:11)