JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (May 4, 2021) – A Missouri bill that would take on federal gun control; past, present and future is being held up by a Senate committee chairman.
Rep. Jered Taylor filed House Bill 85 (HB85) on Dec 1. Titled the “Second Amendment Preservation Act” (SAPA), the legislation would ban any entity or person, including any public officer or employee of the state and its political subdivisions, from enforcing any past, present or future federal “acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, court orders, rules, regulations, statutes, or ordinances” that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms. The bill includes a detailed definition of actions that qualify as “infringement.” You can read more details about the legislation HERE.
HB85 passed the House in February by a 103-43 vote. It now sits in the Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee where it still needs a public hearing and a vote before moving to the full Senate.
The full Senate held a hearing on a Senate companion bill (SB39) last week. But with less than two weeks left in the legislative session, the best chance to get SAPA to the governor is for the Senate to pass the House version – HB85.
According to Ron Calzone at Missouri First, it appears that’s what Senate leadership intends to do, but they cannot move the bill forward until it clears the committee. That’s where we have a big problem. Sen. Lincoln Hough chairs the Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee, and he was reportedly the senator most responsible for stalling SAPA in 2020.
HB 85 was assigned to his committee a week ago, but as of Tuesday morning (May 4) he still hadn’t scheduled it for the hearing he plans to hold Wednesday, May 5. (You can check the latest hearing schedule HERE.)
Calzone said he is convinced that Senate pro tem Dave Schatz wants to take up and pass HB 85 out of the Senate, but he can’t take action until Sen. Lincoln Hough lets the bill go through his committee.
WHAT’S NEXT
If you live in Missouri, call, email, or visit in person Senator Lincoln Hough. Politely but firmly tell him to immediately vote HB 85 out of committee. He has time, today (Tuesday, May 4) to schedule it for his regular hearing tomorrow (Wednesday, May 5).
Sen. Lincoln Hough
201 W Capitol Ave., Rm. 419
Jefferson City, Missouri 65101
OFFICE: (573) 751-1311
Lincoln.Hough@senate.mo.gov
