State Senator Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) and over 60 of his colleagues joined together to appeal to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to intervene against the Biden Administration’s latest attack on the Second Amendment and rights of lawful gun owners across the country.
On January 13, 2023, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed an unconstitutional rule (2021R-08F) requiring Americans to register newly defined “short-barreled” rifles. The new definition includes firearms modified with certain type of stabilizing braces, or what are commonly known as “pistol braces”, a safe, legal, and popular firearm accessory. The U.S. Congressional Research Service estimates there are currently 10 to 40 million of these braces legally-owned by Americans. The “rule” from Garland and the Biden Administration would require federal registration of firearms equipped or modified with the devices within 120 days. Americans who don’t register could face up to 10 years in prison, up to a $10,000 in fines, or both.
“This is another example of Biden and his anti-gun bureaucrats attacking our Second Amendment rights and making criminals out of law-abiding gun owners”, said Brattin. “The President and Garland know Congress would never act on such a blatantly unconstitutional action so they are ordering unelected bureaucrats with no accountability to the American people to make this decision. It’s wrong and we cannot allow it to happen.”
Two years ago, Missouri passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, or “SAPA”, one of the strongest pro-Second Amendment laws in the country. The law protects Missourians from unconstitutional federal overreach by declaring all federal laws, rules, orders or other actions which restrict or prohibit the manufacture, ownership and use of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition exclusively in Missouri will not be enforced by state law enforcement, state municipal officials and other state officials. Senator Brattin was a co-sponsor of the Second Amendment Preservation Act and one of its strongest champions.
“This is exactly why my colleagues and I passed SAPA,” said Brattin. “The President and his Administration are enemies of the Second Amendment and are trying to circumvent the will of Missourians expressed in the Second Amendment Preservation Act. My colleagues in the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate and I are urging Attorney General Bailey to step in and protect the rights of lawful, law-abiding Missourians by immediately filing suit to stop this rule. We look forward to working with Attorney General Bailey and are confident he, too, sees this act by the President and the ATF for what it is – an assault on our liberties and constitutional rights. Furthermore, I am also planning to file legislation as soon as possible to fight back against this rule and stop enforcement of it in Missouri. The President is going to find out Missouri doesn’t take attacks against our Second Amendment lying down.”
