Justice Dept. sends letter to Missouri governor, says state can't void federal gun laws

[diehardblue]

The Justice Department warned Missouri officials that the state can’t ignore federal law after the governor signed a bill last week that bans police from enforcing federal gun rules.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/justice-dept-sends-letter-to-missouri-governor-says-state-cant-void-federal-gun-laws/vi-AAL95Gq?ocid=mailsignout

[Me.]

1. I Wondered About That

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. Good. Our governor is almost as bad as Trump. nt

[jonstl08]

4. He is the worst

Parsons is the worst. Cannot believe he was elected again. Feel the citizens of my state have a screw loose.

[Comfortably_Numb]

11. Texas has entered the chat. Hold my beer.

[sarisataka]

3. File under duh.

Like Federal drug or immigration laws, localities can say they will not assist in enforcement but they cannot declare them null.

[Hardhead1234]

5. Questions about the law

While I agree that states should not be able to disregard federal law how is what Missouri is doing any different than states that have passed recreational marijuana laws? I realize they are specifically banning police from enforcing federal law in this case but isn't legalizing recreational marijuana at the state level the same thing but done a different way. And yes marijuana should be legalized federally. Just trying understand the difference legally.

[Fullduplexxx]

6. Whataboutisms are frowned on here

[MarineCombatEngineer]

8. Maybe so,

but the analogy is correct, if states can ignore immigration laws, marijauana laws, then states can refuse to enforce Fed. firearm laws by not providing any resources to the Feds, like facilities, personnel, etc, they just can't interfere in the enforcement of those laws by the Feds.

[Hardhead1234]

10. Thx for clarifying

[MarineCombatEngineer]

12. My pleasure.

Welcome to DU.

[Fullduplexxx]

14. Dont get me wrong I'm ok with whataboutisms

[MarineCombatEngineer]

15. I fully understand what you were alluding to,

and sorry if I came across as negative towards your post, I was just clarifying what states can and cannot do in regards to Fed. laws.

[TomSlick]

18. Exactly.

[sarisataka]

9. Especially uncomfortable ones

Although I expect this is a one post wonder, the question is valid.

If a state can invalidate Federal law A, why cannot another state invalidate Federal law B. Or if the first state is sanctioned for interference with Federal law enforcement should the other state be sanctioned?

The specific law is not relevant to the setting of precedent.

[Fullduplexxx]

13. I agree and I think whataboutisms are usually valid points

[sarisataka]

16. We are on the same page

Often people will cry whataboutism because they know they can't honestly answer the question without admitting bias and/or hypocrisy.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

17. Noticed that,

and the favorite saying is "NRA talking point" instead of offering a counter point.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. My Take On This

I think the bulk of the intent of federal laws focus on the interstate transport and illegal importation.
Yes, there are possession & small scale sales laws, but they barely enforced those.
They left that to the states already.
If a state decided to no longer consider that a crime, they were already leaving that to them. Nothing has really changed.
But, unless those guns were made in MO, interstate commerce has already occurred.
It's automatically no longer just a local affair.
With the states that legalized pit, they still can't ship surpluses out of state. I know this because of our prices here in Illinois! Lol! Look up the exact same product online from a pot store in California and the price is 40% tops. Their supply more than matches demand. Not so much here!
So, that industry has no inherent interstate commerce of direct interest to the fed.
That may not be a true legal distinction, but I think it's a practical one.
Lastly, having guns in the wrong hands presents a risk to the general public. Selling pot where the people voted to legalize means nobody really cares. The public risk is minimal to nonexistent.
Public safety & inherent interstate commerce seem to make the difference.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

7. A state cannot nullify a Fed. law,

but they can deny the Feds any state, local resources, ie: facilities, personnel, etc.
What they can't do in interfere in the enforcement of those laws by the Feds.