Author: Dear Director Wray,
It has come to my attention that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has informed several Missouri county sheriffs that they will be showing up in August to “audit” CCW permit holder records. The FBI states, “The audit includes an onsite review of your Concealed Carry Weapons Permits”… Let me be perfectly clear. Allowing federal agents from the FBI to have access to records of Missourians who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon violates Missouri law and infringes on our Second Amendment rights.
Missouri law specifically prohibits sharing this confidential list with the federal government. “Information retained in the concealed carry permit system under this subsection shall not be distributed to any federal, state, or private entities….” 571.101.9, RSMo. The people’s elected representatives passed this law after it became known that the Obama Administration wanted to know which Missourians had firearms, supposedly to establish who was entitled to federal benefits. We wanted to leave no doubt that the citizens of Missouri have a constitutional right to bear arms, and the federal government has no business poking around to find out their identities.
I was a state senator when this law was passed, and I proudly voted for it. In fact, we deliberately wrote the state law so that only the elected county sheriff had access to the CCW list you are trying to get. Here in the heartland, we elect our county sheriffs, who are members of our communities. The same cannot be said for your out of touch FBI.
You may wonder why there is such strong suspicion of federal agents here in the “Show Me State”. Simply put, Missourians are hardworking, law-abiding citizens who don’t need a national nanny-state keeping tabs on us. But more than that, over the last couple of years, we’ve seen story after story of incompetence and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI. Our trust in your agency is at an all-time low.
Here are a few examples of how the Biden Administration and liberal “deep-staters” within the FBI have severely tarnished the reputation of this once well-respected agency. You famously targeted the parents of school children who showed up to express their concerns at school board meetings. Unbelievably, somehow this was done as an alleged violation of the PATRIOT Act.
In addition to targeting parents, your agency has targeted conservatives, most famously the witch-hunt against President Trump and his team. James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and others endlessly investigated fake allegations fabricated by the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic operatives. Yet while it persecutes conservatives, the FBI turns a blind eye to Democrats. The FBI inexplicably cleared Hillary Clinton of wrongdoing and has been sitting on evidence of criminal activity on Hunter Biden’s laptop for years.
Now the FBI appears to be targeting Missouri gun owners, and we will not stand for it. We believe in the Second Amendment here. So does the Supreme Court, as you may have seen in the recent landmark opinion. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, I led dozens of state attorneys general in filing a brief defending our Second Amendment rights, and we prevailed.
In light of all these facts, Missourians have concluded that the FBI leadership in Washington, D.C. has been weaponized for political goals. You have lost our trust and you seem to be completely indifferent toward trying to rebuild it. Instead, you announce that you will show up at the offices of our elected Missouri sheriffs in open and blatant violation of our state law and seek to find out who in Missouri holds a legal CCW permit. This is not going to happen. I will fight you tooth and nail with all the resources that the people of Missouri have given me as their Attorney General.
Very Truly Yours,
Eric S. Schmitt
Attorney General
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