Missouri judge declines to rule on new gun law’s legality

By SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has declined to weigh in on the constitutionality of a new state law forbidding local police from enforcing federal gun laws. Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green on Friday punted the case. He wrote that constitutional questions need to be addressed in other pending lawsuits against St. Louis city and St. Louis County filed under the new law. The city city and county had sued to block the new law. The law denounces federal rules on firearms. It also would subject law enforcement agencies with officers who knowingly enforce any federal gun laws to a fine of about $50,000 per violating officer.