Earlier today, we brought you news of the impending showdown between the State of Missouri and the Biden Justice Department over Missouri’s newly passed Second Amendment Preservation Act.  “SAPA, ” as noted in the prior story, is “a law that prohibits the enforcement of federal provisions that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.”

As one of its most salient provisions, Fox News notes the law “would subject law enforcement agencies with officers who knowingly enforce any federal laws to a fine of about $50,000 per violating officer.”

This, not surprisingly, does not sit well with Joe Biden’s DOJ, which issued a sternly worded letter to Missouri’s Governor Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt demanding clarification regarding the law by Friday.

Also unsurprisingly, Parson and Schmitt didn’t need until Friday.

Yes it is.

Our response to #JoeBiden’s DOJ is forthcoming.

Spoiler Alert: Missouri will not be backing down. #SAPA https://t.co/LOWzcPgU40

— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) June 17, 2021

🚨🚨Breaking: Missouri will fight any attempts from the federal government to encroach on Missourians’ Second Amendment rights.

What part of “Shall not be infringed” does #JoeBiden not understand. #2A https://t.co/4Tn2ZdSxfv

— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) June 17, 2021

Their seven-page response was issued today and can be read in full, below, but here are some highlights:

The Department of Justice’s June 16, 2021 letter also directly conflicts with its own policy toward “sanct uary cities.” On his first day in office, President Biden rescinded President Trump’s executive order that prohibited federal grant awards to sanctuary jurisdictions that refused to cooperate with the federal government to enforcement immigration laws. Exec. Order 13993, 86 Fed. Reg. 7051 (Jan. 20, 2021), rescinding Exec. Order 13768, 82 Fed. Reg. 8799, 8801 (Jan. 25, 2017). In April, the Office of Justice Programs reportedly repealed the Department of Justice’ s policy that required recipients of a law enforcement grant to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a condition of their funding. See Sarah N. Lynch, Exclusive US. Justice Department Ends Trump-Era Limits on Grants to ‘SanctuaryCities,’ REUTERS, Apr. 28, 2021, available at https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-us- justice-department-ends-trump-era­ limits-grants-sanctuary-cities-2021-04-28/ (last accessed June 17, 2021). President Biden and the Depmiment of Justice have decided to rewm·d states and cities that refuse to cooperate with enforcing constitutional immigration laws that protect our citizens against foreign threats, but now they attack Missouri for refusing to cooperate with enforcing unconstitutional gun confiscation laws that put our citizens in danger and degrade their rights. You cannot have it both ways.

But the bottom line is this:

We will fight tooth and nail to defend the right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment, Article I, § 23 of the Missouri Constitution, and the Second Amendment Preservation Act. And we will not tolerate any attempt by the federal government to deprive Missourians of this critical civil right.

Boynton Letter by Susie Moore on Scribd