Missouri bill would block new gun controls despite executive orders

President Barack Obama's broad effort to reduce gun violence will include proposed bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as more than a dozen executive orders aimed at circumventing congressional opposition to stricter gun control.

Obama was to announce the measures Wednesday at a White House event that will bring together law enforcement officials, lawmakers and children who wrote the president about gun violence following last month's shooting of 20 young students and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, CT.

But before the president's plan even reaches Congress, a Missouri lawmaker wants to make sure parts of it can't be enforced in Missouri and make it a felony to do so.

Rep. Casey Guernsey, R-Bethany, believes the president could use executive order to restrict access to firearms.

Guernsey wants Missouri to be exempt from any federal gun control law. He says that is punishing the people who own and use guns responsibly.

Guernsey got the idea from Wyoming lawmakers who have taken up a measure that says the federal government cannot take away a state's rights for its citizens to bear arms.

In his bill, Guernsey says it be unlawful for Missouri authorities or firearms dealers to enforce any federal law relating to a personal gun or accessories.

"This legislation needs to be enacted, and I think other states need to as well ... to assert their 10th Amendment rights for self government and being independent on issues that are not for control of the federal government and certainly gun control is not one of those issues," Guernsey said.

Guernsey said the bill has to make it through a committee before it's up for floor debate.

He says it won't have a problem passing because there is a Republican majority in Missouri's House and Senate.

So far, several other legislators have co-signed the bill, all of them are Republicans.

Missouri Bill Aims To Block Executive Orders On Gun Control - January 16, 2013 - JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KMOX) - Today, President Barack Obama will unveil his plans to reduce gun violence and, due to a lack of congressional support, Mr. Obama could fall back on executive orders.
But that’s not sitting well with one Republican Missouri State Representative. Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) introduced legislation yesterday which he says would stop any executive order.
“It is simply legislation to protect the basic Second Amendment rights given to Missouri citizens in the Constitution to keep and bear arms in their homes,” he said. “The real problem and the real issue and one I found people don’t seem to focus on is the fact that we got an administration willing to cut into our Second Amendment right by executive order which, by view of a lot of people in Missouri that I’ve been talking to over the last couple months, is unconstitutional in and of itself.”
Guernsey based his bill on similar legislation out of Wyoming. But will it withstand a potential legal challenge? Thus far, Missouri’s Attorney General Chris Koster has not commented on it.
Rep. Guernsey wants to see more done in the way of mental health services, not gun control, and he attributes mental health cuts to the Affordable Care Act.
“It’s really taking even more away from the state’s ability to not only have those discussions, but to have meaningful influence on how our systems are run,” he said. For many years, prior to the Affordable Care Act being instituted, mental health services have always fallen victim to the budget ax. But Guernsey warns that if Missouri’s takes more money from the federal government, it “takes away our ability, in Missouri, to affect how those programs are run.”
Guernsey is confident his bill will get the green light.

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