Over the last year and a half, citizens have watched both the federal government and states attempt to dismantle the Second Amendment rights of Americans. The constitutional rights of U.S. citizens are under attack by the very institutions charged with protecting them.

In recent months, numerous states have pushed for more restrictive gun laws. Even the United Nations is attempting by treaty to remove our right to bear arms.

Worse of all, though, are the federal government’s attempts, specifically the executive branch, to limit and abolish the right to bear arms enshrined in our Constitution. Congress has so far refused. In response, the president’s pledged, “If Congress won’t act, I will.” It’s not a bluff. Since taking office, the president has circumvented the people’s elected federal officials and issued 23 gun-related executive orders.

The president has always sought to restrict gun rights. As a state senator, he supported a bill that would have allowed the prosecution of citizens who used a firearm for self-defense in their own home. Then in the U.S. Senate, he voted to ban all rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sports shooting. Now as president, he’s stretching the legal bounds of executive authority to implement unprecedented constraints on the ability to purchase and own a firearm.  

The Second Amendment won’t be struck down all at once. The process won’t be sudden. Our right to bear arms will be taken apart piecemeal, through legislative and executive efforts over a period of years. It’ll be a slow, systematic approach, wrapped in the guise of false-equivalencies and dubious justifications. Until one day, without many even realizing it, the liberties enjoyed by our forbearers will be gone.

This is why we have to be on guard and push back at any attempt to infringe on constitutional rights. In many ways, this isn’t just about gun rights—it’s about all rights. If one can be taken, any can.

Since elected to the Missouri Senate, I’ve fought to preserve our Second Amendment rights. It is the one freedom that guarantees all other liberties in our Bill of Rights. That’s why I’m proud this session to co-sponsor Senate Bill 613, which safeguards the right to bear arms for all Missourians.

Specifically, the bill declares that federal supremacy does not apply to federal laws that restrict or prohibit the manufacturing, ownership or use of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition within the state of Missouri because such laws exceed the scope of the federal government’s authority. The legislation also declares invalid all federal laws that infringe on the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 23, of the Missouri Constitution, among other provisions.

The Founders had a vision for our fledgling nation, laid out by the Bill of Rights, a listing of every individual’s personal freedoms, including free speech, freedom of religion, a right to a fair trial, and, of course, the right to keep and bear arms, whose placement on that list of liberties provides strong evidence as to how important our forefather’s held this right to be.

This year, the Missouri Legislature has the opportunity to ensure that the Second Amendment of the Constitution remains an inviolable right for every law-abiding American citizen.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.”

Wise words, and ones I hope my fellow legislators keep in mind as we continue debating this critical measure.

Contact Me

I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions, and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-2459. You may write me at Wayne Wallingford, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101, or email at wayne.wallingford@senate.mo.gov or www.senate.mo.gov/wallingford.