The Greene County Sheriff is calling two recently proposed Missouri Bills misguided and says they will hamstring officers.
Sheriff Arnott says Senate Bill 39 and House bill 85 currently call for any officer who shares firearm-related information with Federal agencies to be fired.
The Sheriff says this would effectively hamper the ability of his office to work with federal agencies investigating local crimes. He says he appreciates a defense of the 2nd Amendment but does not support the language in the bills.
Sheriff Brad Cole shared a similar concern.
You can read Sheriff Arnott’s full statement below:
“As your Sheriff I took an oath to uphold the Constitutions [sic] of the United States and the State of Missouri. It is not only my duty, but my privilege to serve and protect the citizens of Greene County from criminal activity. Just as important however, it is my duty to stand between government overreach and you, specifically in regard to the 2nd Amendment. I am a member of the NRA and will never take part in the infringement of your constitutional right to legally purchase, posses, own, transfer or carry a firearm. Each citizen of our great country is ultimately responsible for their own safety and I will never take part in removing your ability and freedom to do so in any way. That is my personal and professional belief and it is the culture at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
Currently there is a Senate Bill (SB39) and a House Bill (HB85) that have been introduced in Missouri which are attempting to protect these rights, however these bills in their current state are problematic. Unfortunately, these well intended but misguided bills will hamstring law enforcement officers across the state. Senate Bill 39 and House Bill 85 actually call for the termination of employment of Law Enforcement Officers and their supervisors if they share any firearm related information with our Federal Law Enforcement partners.
The Greene County Sheriff’s Office routinely partners with federal agencies to investigate local crimes in Greene County. These crimes are of course against Missouri Revised Statutes but they are also in violation of federal laws. It often benefits our agency and the citizens of Greene County when we work together with federal agencies to prosecute these crimes in Federal Court. Convictions in Federal Court generally yield much longer sentences, keeping the most dangerous felons who threaten our community off the streets for longer periods of time. This is an unfortunate reality but is yet another reason that I and many Missouri Sheriffs are encouraging legislation for truth in sentencing so we can effectively prosecute these crimes at the state level. We are proud to work with our federal partners in Greene County as they are yet another valuable crime fighting tool providing state local law enforcement much needed resources to better protect and serve you, the citizens of Greene County and those who visit here. We are a large community, with large community problems and this is why these law enforcement relationships are so vital. As I have previously stated, just as vital is your ability to carry a firearm.
Senator Eric Burlison and Representative Jered Taylor are the sponsors of these bills. While I sincerely applaud their efforts to protect your rights from potential changes to federal law, I am also asking publicly that law enforcement officers are not punished for doing all they can to protect the citizens that they serve. Roughly forty percent of this bill is specifically about law enforcement and the collaborative work with our federal partners.
I and other Sheriffs across the state are very concerned with SB39 and HB85. If Senator Burlison and Representative Taylor would consider receiving insight from the Missouri Law Enforcement perspective, I am very willing to work with them on these bills, as are many other Sheriffs. We need state laws that will make it easier to keep our communities safe, not those that have unintended consequences and silence law enforcement officials. Please contact your Senator and State Representative and advise them that you support the 2nd Amendment and Missouri Sheriffs, but not the language in these two bills (SB39 & HB85) which will severely hinder the prosecution of some of our most dangerous offenders.”
Representative Jered Taylor responded to Sheriff Arnott and Sheriff Cole in a message to KY3, saying the Sheriffs had received bad information. Taylor says his bill is based on anti-commandeering laws held up by the Supreme Court.
“This letter is in response to the attack on the Second Amendment Preservation Act by Sheriffs Arnott and Cole. As your State Representative I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United State and of the State of Missouri. I proudly serve the people of the 139th District in Christian County as your State Representative in Jefferson City. I take my oath very seriously and will do everything in my power to defend your Constitutional rights, whether they are being infringed upon by the federal government, state government, or local government.
Article 1 Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution states that “All constitutional government is intended to promote the general welfare of the people; that all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry; that all persons are created equal and are entitle to equal rights and opportunities under the law; that to give security to these things is the principal office of government, and that when government does not confer this security, it fails in its chief design.” The Second Amendment Preservation Act was designed to protect the liberty discussed in the constitution, if government fails to protect these liberties from the federal government or state government or local government entities, including your Sheriff, they have failed in their chief design. Unfortunately, many Sheriffs are misguided about HB 85, they are being given bad information. HB 85, also known as the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA) was designed to protect the second amendment rights of law abiding citizens of Missouri from an out of control Federal Government, no matter what party is in office.
This legislation is founded on the anti-commandeering doctrine that has been upheld by the Supreme Court on multiple occasions and most are familiar with how it been used most recently in Missouri and other states through marijuana laws. It simply is telling the Federal Government you aren’t going to commandeer/use our resources to enforce your laws. This same constitutional idea implements that principle to any federal gun laws. I recognize the threat posed by the Biden administration and their call to ban certain weapons because they are scary, or magazine capacity restrictions, or their scheme to tax guns and ammo out of existence. The way we push back is by asserting our 10th amendment rights, state sovereignty, to the out of control Federal Government.
So how does SAPA do this? HB 85 simply says that law enforcement in this state cannot enforce federal gun laws, but they can and will enforce state gun laws. This law does not stop Sheriffs or law enforcement from participating in any federal task force or sharing information, as long as gun related charges are charged on a state level. If our prison sentences need to be stricter, we as Missourians should make that decision, not Washington DC, we know what works for Missouri. SAPA is just as much about protecting your second amendment rights as it is about protecting Law Enforcement Officers.
Countless deputies and law enforcement officers have reached out in support of this legislation because they know that it will be them enforcing gun bans on law abiding citizens, not the Sheriff or Police Chief. There are penalties if the provisions in HB 85 are violated, if they violate your constitutional rights as a law abiding gun owner in Missouri. If a federal agent or agent of the federal government violate the provisions of this bill, they will not be allowed to maintain or obtain a peace officer license in Missouri. If the person violating your rights is a law enforcement officer of the state, they will be subject to a lawsuit by the person whose rights were violated.
The Sheriffs association and Sheriff Arnott hasn’t [sic] supported a single 2nd Amendment bill during my time in the legislature. They have been an obstacle every step of the way, including legislation enacting constitutional carry [sic]. It’s one thing to say you support the 2nd Amendment and it’s a whole other thing to actually do it. I reached out to multiple Sheriffs, including Sheriff Arnott and Sheriff Cole prior to filing this legislation 2 years ago because I wanted their input and I wanted to avoid unintended consequences, unfortunately they are just now sharing their concern on liberal outlets like the News Leader rather than reaching out to me.
I have worked with the Sheriffs association and agreed to changes but I will not agree to gut the bill in order to make their job a little easier to violate your second amendment rights. My door is always open for meaningful discussion to make this legislation the best it can be for law abiding Missourians.”
KTTS News received a copy of Sheriff Arnott’s statement from his office directly via e-mail.
