States Bracing for Biden Gun Bans

January 26, 2021
By Mark Chesnut

With President Joe Biden and his anti-gun Vice President Kamala Harris sure to begin acting upon the numerous gun-ban schemes they touted over and over during the campaign, lawmakers in some red states are taking preemptive actions to protect the Second Amendment for their constituents.

Biden’s presidency marks the biggest threat America’s law-abiding gun owners have faced since his old boss, Barack Obama, left office four years ago. And lawmakers in both Missouri and Oklahoma are determined to stop Biden’s gun restrictions, even if they manage to gain approval in Congress

In Missouri, lawmakers are considering the “Second Amendment Protection Act,” introduced by state Sen. Eric Burlison. Burlison’s legislation, Senate Bill 139, declares “that federal supremacy does not apply to federal laws that restrict or prohibit the manufacture, ownership, and use of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition within the state because such laws exceed the scope of the federal government’s authority.”

The legislation further states that “no public officer or state or local employee has the authority to enforce firearms laws declared invalid by the act,” and adds: “Any public officer or state or local employee who tries to enforce the firearms law declared invalid by the act or any person who acts under the color of law to deprive a Missouri citizen of rights or privileges ensured by the federal and state constitutions shall be liable for redress.”

Meanwhile, in neighboring Oklahoma, new state Sen. Warren Hamilton has filed a measure to make the Sooner State a Second Amendment Sanctuary State. The legislation, Senate Bill 631, is called the “State preemption of federal infringement of Second Amendment rights.”

Hamilton represents a district that encompasses counties that have all passed Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions. His bill states: “The State Legislature hereby occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation by the federal government, any agency of this state or any political subdivision in this state to infringe upon the rights of a citizen of the State of Oklahoma the unalienable right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed to them by the Second amendment of the United States.”

Whether or not these measures gain traction—and I believe they will in both of these states and several others soon—they show that lawmakers at the state level are willing to fight for their constituents’ rights when so many in Congress seem to have lost their will to battle the gun-ban movement. With Biden in the White House and Democrats in charge of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, gun owners are in for the fight of their lives on a federal level. But don’t be surprised to see gun rights make great advances in the states as citizens wake up and work with their local and state representatives to try and protect their treasured way of life from a full-on attack from our nation’s capital.

Freelance writer and editor Mark Chesnut is the owner/editorial director at Red Setter Communications LLC. An avid hunter, shooter and political observer, he has been covering Second Amendment issues and politics on a near-daily basis for the past 20 years.