July 1, 2021- 1:24 p.m.
The passage of the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which blocks Missouri police from enforcing a variety of federal gun laws, has alarmed gun control advocates and sparked concern that it could hamper police efforts to arrest violent criminals or confiscate their guns.
As Missouri officials argue with the Biden administration over the scope of the state’s new gun law, federal law enforcement agencies are quietly assessing whether police departments will cut ties with them in firearm investigations.
Emails obtained by The Star show federal prosecutors in eastern Missouri have asked at least a dozen police departments whether they will stop participating in federal gun crime investigations. The FBI has also queried a southwest Missouri police department, and is assessing the responses of local police statewide.
At least two departments have pulled officers from assignments with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, spokesmen confirmed.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol has suspended its participation in an ATF task force, to which one trooper was assigned full-time and three part-time, Lt. Eric Brown said.
“With the passage of HB 85, Patrol members can continue to serve on federal task forces except where the task force’s primary focus is on weapons violations,” Brown said.
The O’Fallon Police Department has withdrawn two K9 officers “who were deputized to ATF on an as needed basis,” Operations Division Captain Derek Myers wrote in an email to other police officials.
An ATF spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.
The new law declares many federal gun regulations, including those that covering weapons registration, tracking and possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders, “invalid” in Missouri.
AN INVITATION FROM THE U.S. ATTORNEY
St. Louis city and county have sued the state over the law, seeking to block it from taking effect. Last month, a US. Justice Department official wrote to Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt saying HB 85 “conflicts with federal firearms laws and regulation” and threatens to disrupt the working relationship between federal and local authorities.
“Missouri is not attempting to nullify federal law,” Schmitt and Parson wrote back. “Instead, Missouri is defending its people from federal government overreach by prohibiting state and local law enforcement agencies from being used by the federal government to infringe [on] Missourians’ right to keep and bear arms.”
But emails reflect concern among federal law enforcement agents about their partnerships with Missouri police.
Last Thursday, an FBI intelligence analyst emailed a crime analyst in the Joplin Police Department, asking whether the local department would stop participating in firearms investigations. The FBI analyst mentioned the State Highway Patrol’s withdrawal from ATF.
“We’re seeing changes from locals on LEOs (law enforcement officers) working firearms charges….has JPD (Joplin Police Department) made any changes in response to the legislation signed a few weeks ago in which they are no longer working certain aspects of firearms cases?” the FBI analyst wrote. “Thanks for any info you can provide, we’re trying to see the response statewide.”
The emails show no written response from the Joplin analyst. Both the FBI and the Joplin Police Department declined to comment on the effect of the new law.
In eastern Missouri, U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming on June 21 called local police chiefs to a meeting scheduled for Friday to discuss how the departments would respond.
The emailed invitation included four federal police agencies and was sent to at least 12 Missouri police chiefs who work with the St. Louis-based federal prosecutor’s office. Fleming wrote that her office would not issue a legal interpretation of the Second Amendment Preservation Act but would share “our office’s internal policy.”
“With respect to your agency/department, please be prepared to discuss your current policy as to existing and future investigations and prosecutions involving potential federal firearm charges,” Fleming wrote. “We fully respect and understand that each department/agency will have its own interpretation of the legislation and resulting policy. Hopefully, having a more complete understanding of the various policies will help everyone going forward.”
“I am confident we will work through this,” she added.
A spokeswoman for the St. Charles County Police Department, which provided the emails to The Star in response to a public records request, did not respond when asked if the department would stop assisting in federal gun investigations.
“The St. Charles County Police Department will continue to serve and protect the community,” she said.
Local departments are barred from enforcing them, or risk being sued for $50,000. They also are prohibited from assisting federal agents in enforcing laws declared “invalid,” and from hiring former federal agents who had enforced them.
The law’s passage was a victory for gun rights activists who have pushed it for nearly a decade in the Missouri legislature. This year, they picked up new momentum by responding to the Biden administration’s vows to enact stricter gun control.
But the measure has drawn an ambivalent response from Missouri law enforcement officials. Some say they are supportive of Second Amendment rights but concerned about their ability to investigate crimes alongside federal agents when guns are used or involved. In those cases, prosecutors often pursue gun charges because they come with additional penalties upon sentencing.
Federal agencies run a variety of task forces related to guns and drugs across Missouri, and often provide extra funding for local departments. Last year the Justice Department launched Operation LeGend in Kansas City and St. Louis, in response to record gun violence in Missouri. The ATF Strike Force also focuses on violent crimes committed with firearms or explosives in St. Louis. Parson appointed two state troopers to that effort in 2019.
