A Missouri Republican attempt is underway to restore the “Second Amendment Preservation Act” – despite a federal court ruling an earlier version of the gun law as unconstitutional. The state House has given initial approval to a bill that would ban Missouri law enforcement agencies from enforcing federal gun regulations.

Rep. Bill Hardwick, R-Dixon, is sponsoring House Bill 1175.

“This fix that you had before you is pretty well close the original Second Preservation Act, except instead of delineating certain infringements, it says that our state cops don’t enforce federal law as agents, as commandeered, as subservients of federal agencies, with some exceptions, right? They can always enforce Missouri state law,” said Hardwick.

The state legislature passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, otherwise known as SAPA, in 2021. The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis unanimously ruled in 2024 that SAPA violates the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, which says federal law takes precedence over any conflicting state law.

Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, opposes the bill. He is a former Department of Public Safety Director and Joplin police chief.

“This piece of legislation is not the Second Amendment,” said Roberts. “It’s a piece of legislation that has Second Amendment incorporated by word only. For years, this body has told the world that we support law enforcement…we back the blue. And then we do this.”

Roberts said the legislation creates a new category of lawsuits aimed at law enforcement officers and their agencies.

“It makes our officers second guess everything they do with their federal counterparts,” said Roberts. “It threatens their relationship with their federal counterparts. And it fundamentally vilifies law enforcement by suggesting that we have to tell them that they’re supposed to protect people’s Second Amendment rights, like they don’t know that.”

According to Roberts, law enforcement officers from other states could not serve as an officer in Missouri because it prohibits officers who previously enforced anything that would violate the bill.

“They’ve all done that. They were doing their duty. They were enforcing their law as it existed at the time,” he said. “I’m just not willing to stand quietly by and allow our police officers to become sacrificial lambs. Our cops are the guardians of the Bill of Rights. They are the first line of defense and they take that role seriously.”

Hardwick said he’s not anti-law enforcement.

“I want law enforcement to be resourced, the be supported, to enforce all Missouri laws,” he said. “Is anybody in this room under the impression that a state prosecutor can file a federal charge?”

He said there needs to be boundaries on power.

“There cannot be unlimited police power,” said Hardwick. “There cannot be unlimited federal government power. We have to say that the Constitution constrains that. That does not mean we are in favor of crime. That does not mean we are against law enforcement. That means we are against abuses of power, even against our law enforcement officers.”

Hardwick’s bill would also ban the registering, tracking, and confiscating of guns, something Rep. Michael Burton, D-St. Louis County, is opposed to.

“Statistics of when they banned semi-automatic tactical-style assault rifles, we saw a drop in the number of dead people,” said Burton.

“Just please think for a moment how incredibly absurd that is, that because there’s a different accoutrement on a rifle, it’s suddenly going to cause a different amount of deaths,” said Hardwick.

“Then why don’t we send our military folks into battle with the wooden rifles,” Burton fired back.

One more state House vote of support would send the bill to the Senate for more eyes to look over the legislation.

Copyright © 2025 · Missourinet

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (First Alert 4) – Missouri schools could be required to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom if one lawmaker gets his way.

High school student Calvino Hammerman used to attend a Jewish private school. Now at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis County, the sophomore appreciates all the diversity of his peers. But as a practicing Jew, Hammerman said he understands what it’s like to have someone else’s religion forced on you.

That’s why Hammerman opposes a bill that would require all public and charter schools in Missouri to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

“My Hindu friends do not believe in this, but who is the government to tell them that that is wrong,” Hammerman said in a Senate Education Committee hearing.

A bill sponsored by Cape Girardeau-area Republican Sen. Jamie Burger would require all Missouri public and charter schools to display the Ten Commandments in the lobby and in all classrooms on a poster no smaller than 11 by 14 inches. If this passes, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. There is no plan to allocate money to schools to pay for the posters, but Burger said he is confident there will be donors willing to fund the posters for schools.

“I honestly believe that when prayer went out of schools, and religion was removed from schools, that guns came in and violence came in,” Burger said.

In a public hearing of the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning, far more Missourians stepped up to oppose the bill than support. The committee ran out of time to hear testimony from all of those gathered to oppose the bill, but many of those who did speak were religious clergy members who said it would violate Americans’ religious freedoms.

“As you have already noted, there is a Ten Commandment monument just outside this building, and that has not made the members of this body follow all of those commandments,” said Brian Kaylor with the Christian nonprofit Word & Way.

Bills like this are popping up across the country, at least a dozen other states are considering or have passed similar requirements. Louisiana was the first state to pass this law, but it was blocked by a federal judge. The case could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern said the legislature shouldn’t act on this bill until the court makes a decision.

“Placing these in a public school classroom is a very frustrating use of our time and what I see as our tax dollars moving forward as we litigate these things,” Nurrenbern said.

While those opposed say this bill would violate religious freedoms, Republican lawmakers like Sen. Rick Brattin argue the complete opposite.

“We just need to be willing to plant that flag that God, and the God of the Ten Commandments, is who gave us this amazing nation and we need to be able to reflect and look at that,” Brattin said.

The bill needs approval from the Senate Education committee to move forward, the committee could vote as soon as next week.

Copyright 2025 KMOV. All rights reserved.

KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.

—

When the city of Kansas City, Missouri, has to pay a judgment after losing a lawsuit or reaching a settlement, the money generally comes from tax dollars.

Tax dollars pay for most legal settlements in Kansas City, Missouri

The city places tax dollars in its legal expense fund every year. This account pays for claims in whistleblower, discrimination and other lawsuits involving employees and the public.

“I mean, the taxpayer already got it hard. Got to pay everything,” said Gregory Spikes, taxpayer.

At a meeting earlier this month, the city’s finance director explained the city has insurance policies for properties, cybersecurity and workers comp.

The city does not buy insurance or self-insure for all possibilities. The legal expense fund handles claims outside of its covered areas.

“How are we responsible for the mistakes y’all are making? That’s another thing that’s wrong with the system,” said Christian Fly, who lives and works in Kansas City.

Charlie Keegan/KSHB

The most recent lawsuit Kansas City lost involved former City Communications Director Chris Hernandez. He said the city manager told him to lie to the media.

A jury awarded Hernandez $700,000 for emotional distress, more than $200,000 in back or lost wages, and the city must pay his lawyer fees.

The city council suspended City Manager Brian Platt the next day.

Hernandez’s attorneys said these lawsuits are about changing the culture in city hall.

“I felt a lot of pressure for this case because I felt like we were fighting for truth, for how our city was going to be run in the future,” said Erin Vernon, of Bratcher Gockel Law.

Charlie Keegan/KSHB

Advertisement

The city has hired a risk manager and revised policies to avoid lawsuits. That way, tax dollars can go where taxpayers want them spent.

“It’s important to have transparency on where those tax dollars are going so that we feel good about the use of our taxpayer money,” said Zane Champie, Kansas Citian.

Charlie Keegan/KSHB