Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is stepping up his defense of the Second Amendment with two new legal challenges; one aimed at tech giants Google and Meta, and another directed at a Missouri county that directly conflicts with the state's preemption statute.
Last week Bailey issued a Civil Investigative Demand to Google and Meta to "determine whether the companies have engaged in unlawful business practices by suppressing lawful speech and commerce related to firearms and ammunition on its platforms." While the CID isn't a formal lawsuit, it's a formal investigation of the companies conducted by the Attorney General's office, which has the power under Missouri law to compel the production of documents, communications, and other materials related to potential violations of Missouri’s consumer protection laws.
Some blue states are using these same consumer protection laws to go after the firearms industry, so it's nice to see Bailey use his state's statute to investigate the silencing of Second Amendment advocates, gun owners, and sellers on the platforms.
The demand was prompted by troubling allegations that Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are obscuring or penalizing content related to firearms, accessories, hunting, personal protection, and related political viewpoints. Because Missouri law prohibits companies from misleading consumers about their services, our Office is demanding that Google and Meta provide relevant documents, policies, and communications.
As stated in the CID, “The right to ‘keep and bear arms’ is one of the most sacred and cherished rights guaranteed to the citizens of the State of Missouri under the Constitution of the United States.” The document continues by saying, “If citizens are prevented from owning modern firearms, the government holds a monopoly on the use of force, and as history has demonstrated time and again, this consolidation of power inevitably leads to the violation of human rights and the trampling of individual liberty.”
Bailey, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit against Jackson County, Missouri for a recently enacted ordinance that prohibits the sale of handguns and undefined "assault rifles" to adults under the age of 21. In the new lawsuit, Bailey teamed up with Gun Owners of America and GOA member Leonard Wilson, Jr., to argue the ordinance violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as Missouri's firearms preemption law.
Jackson County leaders don’t get to nullify the Constitution just because they disagree with it,” said Attorney General Bailey. “Their actions are a blatant attempt at lawfare to achieve their political agendas. We’re taking this fight to Court to defend the rights of every Missourian, because all law-abiding adults are entitled to equal protection under the Constitution.”
Missouri is taking this action because Jackson County Ordinance No. 5865 unlawfully criminalizes adults aged 18 to 20 for engaging in activity that is fully protected under both the U.S. Constitution and Missouri law. The ordinance bans the purchase of handguns and ammunition by these adults and prohibits them from possessing so-called “semiautomatic assault rifles,” a vague and undefined term, which includes many firearms in common use.
Missouri law unmistakably preempts local governments from creating their own firearm regulations. Under § 21.750, RSMo, the state has exclusive authority to legislate in this area, a fact that Jackson County’s own legal counsel acknowledged. Nevertheless, the Jackson County Legislature overrode the Jackson County Executive’s veto and deliberately pushed the ordinance forward in hopes of provoking a legal battle.
They wanted a legal fight and now they've got one.. one they're almost certainly going to lose. Jackson County Executive Frank White vetoed this measure after warning it violated Missouri preemption law, and County Counselor Bryan Covinsky cautioned that passing the ordinance would open up the county to liability. The Jackson County Council overrode White's veto, and the primary sponsor of the ordinance admitted that the goal in adopting the measure was to challenge preemption in court.
Even if a judge concludes that adults younger than 21 can be denied the ability to purchase and possess commonly-owned firearms (which, unfortunately, we've seen before), Jackson County's ordinance explicitly violates the state's firearm preemption law, and courts across the country have repeatedly rebuffed challenges other preemption statutes. Missouri's law prohibits any government body other than the legislature from “adopt[ing] any order, ordinance or regulation concerning in any way" the “purchase, sale, transfer, or possession of firearms or ammunition.”
Jackson County's ordinance is precisely why preemption laws are so important. Throughout the rest of the state of Missouri it's perfectly legal for an 18-year-old to possess (and purchase) an AR-15. 19-year-olds can apply for and receive a concealed carry license, and so long as they can lawfully possess a gun they lawfully carry it either openly or concealed under the state's Constitutional Carry statute. In Jackson County, however, a 20-year-old is barred from buying ammunition for her handgun, nor is she allowed to possess the most popular rifle in the country.
That's clearly a violation of the Second Amendment. Hopefully it won't be long before Bailey and GOA have the judge grant summary judgment in their favor, and maybe even forces the county to cough up the cash to cover the plaintiffs' legal fees.
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