The Supreme Court on Friday left a Missouri law on hold that blocks police from enforcing federal gun laws in the state, rejecting an emergency appeal.
The 2019 law in question, known as the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” was ruled unconstitutional by a district judge in response to a Biden administration lawsuit, though the judge allowed it to remain in effect. A federal appeals court later blocked enforcement while the state appeals the district court’s decision.
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The order marks a temporary defeat for Missouri, which desired to see the law stay in effect while litigation plays out in lower court. However, the case could ultimately return to the high court for an argument on the merits.
Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone member of the court to side with Missouri in the order on Friday.
The law would fine an officer $50,000 if one knowingly enforced federal gun laws that don’t align with the state’s own restrictions.
Federal laws that lack congruence with ones on the books in Missouri include registration and tracking requirements, as well as possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders. The high court will hear a case in November on the merits regarding the constitutionality of barring those under a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a gun.
Thomas was the author of the 2022 high court decision that upended New York’s long-standing and restrictive concealed carry permit regime.
That precedent established a test for examining Second Amendment cases that demands the government demonstrate that a restriction is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearms laws.
Democrats including President Joe Biden have come out against Thomas’s majority opinion, and lower courts have grappled in different ways as they learn to interpret the new precedent.
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The question over domestic violence offenders’ rights to own a weapon was sparked by a U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that scrutinized that federal statute, and the justices are slated to hear arguments in U.S. v. Rahimi on Nov. 7.
The Washington Examiner contacted Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office for comment.
