ST. LOUIS — After joining hundreds of people to celebrate the recently passed federal gun law at the White House Monday, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones called it “an important first step” in keeping communities safe.
“The Safer Communities Act will help save lives,” Jones said from Washington in a videoconference briefing for local reporters after attending the event headlined by President Joe Biden on the White House lawn.
Jones said federal action is critical because the Missouri Legislature and state legislators in some other states have loosened state gun restrictions significantly in recent years.
She added that more needs to be done in Congress, including a ban on assault weapons.
She said she has asked city officials to see if the new bill’s funding to boost mental health programs can be used to aid St. Louis’ cops and clinicians program in which mental health workers accompany police on some calls.
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Jones, a Democrat, commended Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican who isn’t seeking reelection this year, for providing “a critical vote” in favor of the bill. Many GOP state legislators criticized Blunt for doing so.
“Keeping our children and families safe should be a bipartisan issue,” said Jones, who is among 10 co-chairs of a national Mayors Against Illegal Guns group. “We can work together where we do agree and St. Louisans thank him.”
The new law also incrementally toughens requirements for young people buying guns, denies firearms to more domestic abusers and helps local authorities temporarily take weapons from people judged to be dangerous.
Asked by a reporter about the so-called Second Amendment Preservation Act, a Missouri state law passed in 2021 that bars local police from enforcing some federal gun laws, Jones said she is confident that the courts will declare the state measure unconstitutional.
The city, St. Louis County and the U.S. Justice Department have filed lawsuits challenging the state law, which declares “invalid” some federal gun rules that don’t have an equivalent in Missouri law such as those on weapons registration and tracking. The law carries potential $50,000 penalties for violations.
Opponents say the act violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states that federal law supersedes state law, among other “rights guaranteed by state and federal constitutions.”
A spokesman for Jones, Nick Desideri, said Jones had paid for her two-day trip out of personal funds. Jones, like previous mayors, gets a $30,000 contingency fund in addition to her salary. Desideri didn’t say whether the contingency fund was used for the trip.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
