(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Gun-loving Missouri county refuses to work with ATF, may screw gun shop owners in the process [1] ['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags'] Date: 2023-04-11 According to KCUR-FM, a public radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, six top Camden County, Missouri, officials are refusing to engage with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, claiming the agency itself is unconstitutional. (Translation: They don’t like it.) ATF agents say they need zoning information so the agency can complete the applications for four people who want to open gun stores in Camden County, about 250 miles southeast of Kansas City. In a letter to the ATF office in Kansas City, Camden County presiding commissioner Ike Skelton cited a local ordinance banning county employees from working with the ATF. “Under the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine, Camden County was the first county in Missouri, and possibly in the country, to pass an ordinance prohibiting any county employee from assisting your unconstitutional agency in violating the rights of our citizens,” Skelton wrote. Okay then! Guess we’re all just doing our own thing now. Never mind the centuries-old doctrine of judicial review: Camden County, Missouri’s Ike Skelton has found Little Orphan Annie's unconstitutional decoder pin. Skelton wasn’t done declaring himself the nation’s sole and final arbiter of the law. As he told KCUR, “Any and all federal firearms laws, so-called laws, in my opinion, and many others’ opinion, are unconstitutional.” Is it a particularly strong opinion? Because, in my opinion, we should be able to inject black tar heroin into our eyeballs whenever Donald Trump shows up on the teevee—but so far, that doesn’t make it the law. Civil disobedience in the ongoing struggle for justice is a tried and true American tradition, but this is less like righteous disobedience and more like throwing your sippy cup across the room because you’re mad at Mommy. It’s one thing to disobey laws enacted to systematically oppress people; it’s quite another to willfully misinterpret constitutional amendments that were largely written to appease slave states. As usual, conservatives’ latest temper tantrum appears to be more performative than practical. ATF spokesman Jon Ham noted that federal law requires the agency to check on zoning before it can grant a firearms license. This keeps people from opening gun shops in residential areas—like next to the homes of all those suburban mothers Republicans are doing such a great job of wooing lately. “We use that information to put people in business, not to take people out of business,” Ham said. Well, okay, sure. But Camden County, Missouri, would prefer people be able to sell gats at bake sales, apparently. Ham also told KCUR that he’s never seen anything like this protest, and that it could affect these business applicants’ ability to open their stores. The county’s stance may result from its reading of Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, which allows people to sue Missouri police for “infringing” on their right to keep and bear arms. However, a federal judge declared last month that the law was unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Wimes ruled that the 2021 Missouri law is unconstitutional and “invalid, null, void, and of no effect.” [...] Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit arguing Missouri’s law has undermined federal drug and weapons investigations. Among its provisions, the law says law enforcement agencies will face $50,000 fines if they “infringe” on Missourians’ Second Amendment rights. Some of those laws would include imposing certain taxes on firearms, requiring gun owners to register their weapons and laws prohibiting “law-abiding” residents from possessing or transferring their guns. Whatever. Conservatives have shown that they’d prefer to pick and choose the laws they follow—just as they condemn calls to defund law enforcement until they want to do it themselves (to protect their spray-tanned scofflaw, of course—not to combat systemic police violence that disproportionately impacts people of color). After all, in their world, Ashli Babbitt, who tried to break into the U.S. Capitol during a violent insurrection, is a martyred freedom fighter. In contrast, Trayvon Martin got what he deserved because he was wearing a hoodie. But hey, if Republicans aren’t being brazenly hypocritical, they’re just not trying. That much should be perfectly clear by now. RELATED STORY: Right-wing hypocrisy is never hypocrisy. It's a coherent belief system Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/11/2163320/-Gun-loving-Missouri-county-refuses-to-work-with-ATF-may-screw-gun-shop-owners-in-the-process Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/