Missouri officials in one county have refused to work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, claiming that the government agency is unconstitutional.
Six top elected officials in Camden County signed a letter to the ATF saying as much, according to NPR affiliate KCUR 89.3.
"Under the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine, Camden County was the first county in Missouri, and possibly in the country, to pass an ordinance prohibiting any county employee from assisting your unconstitutional agency in violating the rights of our citizens," county presiding commissioner Ike Skelton said in the letter.
The population of the county is roughly 43,700, according to the latest Census figures.
The officials cited the state's Second Amendment Preservation Act as grounds to refuse to cooperate, KCUR reported. Last month, a federal judge struck down the 2021 law, which prohibited local police from enforcing federal gun laws, calling it "invalid, null, void, and of no effect."
The letter was signed by two of Skelton's colleagues, Camden County attorney Jeff Green, Sheriff Tony Helms, and county treasurer Kendra Hicks, according to KCUR.
Skelton, Helms, and Hicks did not immediately...
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