States trying to resist call for greater gun restrictions

— President Barack Obama’s call for greater gun restrictions was met with opposition Wednesday in the Missouri Legislature, where Republicans rallied behind measures attempting to nullify any federal ban on semiautomatic weapons and make criminals out of federal agents who would try to enforce it.

Similar protest legislation was endorsed by lawmakers in Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.

Any legislation passed at the state level would be largely symbolic, because courts have ruled that federal laws supersede conflicting state laws.

“We need to stand up for our rights and how we interpret the Constitution here in Missouri,” said state Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, who filed the legislation Wednesday in opposition to Obama’s gun-control measures.

The president called upon Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones used in the Newtown, Conn., school shooting that killed 20 students and six adults last month. The proposals are part of a broad plan by Obama to reduce gun violence that also includes 23 executive actions, such as ordering federal agencies to make more data available for background checks on gun purchases.

Munzlinger’s legislation would declare unenforceable in Missouri any federal law or executive order that restricts the possession of semiautomatic guns or accessories beyond what existed at the end of 2012, or which requires the registration of any guns or accessories. The legislation also would make it a state felony for federal agents to enforce those restrictions on any guns that are made and remain in Missouri. State law enforcement officers and licensed gun deals could face misdemeanor charges for enforcing such federal restrictions.

A similar bill filed Tuesday by Missouri state Rep. Casey Guernsey, R-Bethany, is cosponsored by more than 60 representatives. Guernsey described his bill as a protection against Obama’s proposals.

“Limiting the right of law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms is a nonstarter,” Guernsey said.

But some Democratic lawmakers said the bills are a waste of time, citing the general supremacy of federal laws over state laws. They noted that last year, the Republican-led Legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto to enact a law requiring insurers to exclude birth-control coverage for moral objectors. But a federal judge has temporarily blocked the Missouri law, because it conflicts with an insurance mandate under Obama’s health-care law.

Missouri state Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City, said she supports a ban on the sale of assault weapons and ammunition and believes most urban residents do also.

“The culture in my district is very different than the culture in rural areas, and the sale of assault rifles and ammunition is of grave concern in my district,” Curls said.

Missouri lawmakers weren’t the only ones talking about legislation to exempt their state from federal gun laws.

In Mississippi, Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, said Wednesday that he wants the state to resist any presidential order that might restrict gun rights.

Bryant made the call shortly before Obama issued his executive orders designed to curb gun violence.

“I am asking that you immediately pass legislation that would make any unconstitutional order by the President illegal to enforce in Mississippi by state or local law enforcement,” Bryant wrote in a letter to Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn, who are also Republicans.

No such bills had been filed by Wednesday, and a Democratic lawmaker said it was “irresponsible” of Bryant to speak against Obama’s efforts without knowing what the president was going to say.

“It seems to me we need to not disregard any reasonable efforts on the part of the president to help our law enforcement officers to protect our citizens,” said Rep. Kevin Horan, D-Grenada.

In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry said he was “disgusted” by the “political left” using the Connecticut school massacre to push for greater restrictionson guns and that the Second Amendment trumps Obama or any other president.

“The piling on by the political left, and their cohorts in the media, to use the massacre of little children to advance a preexisting political agenda that would not have saved those children, disgusts me, personally,” Perry said in a statement. “The Second Amendment to the Constitution is a basic right of free people and cannot be nor will it be abridged by the executive power of this or any other president.”

Perry’s comments came after first-term Rep. Steve Toth introduced a bill in the Texas House seeking to ban in the state any federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The bill by the Republican from The Woodlands would allow police officers across the state to arrest federal law enforcement officers who attempt to enforce any such ban in Texas. Toth has since appeared on television stations throughout the state and the country, promoting his legislation.

Even though the Texas legislative session opened last week, House committees have yet to be appointed, meaning legislation cannot yet be debated much less approved.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, released his own statement saying, “President Obama has put forward a common sense plan to increase gun safety in the United States. How many more tragedies must we endure before we step up and take action?”

Ellis said he planned to introduce a bill that would stop Texans who cannot passa background check at a gun store from going to a flea market and buying one there, “no questions asked.”

In Tennessee, Republican Rep. Joe Carr of Murfreesboro called a news conference Wednesday to announce he will pursue legislation to make it a crime in Tennessee for federal agents to enforce any effort to ban firearms or ammunition.

Information for this article was contributed by David A. Lieb, Jordan Shapiro, Emily Wagster Pettus, Will Weissert and Erik Schelzig of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/17/2013

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