Missouri AG sues to block gun restrictions enacted after Chiefs rally shooting

Kacen Bayless, The Kansas City Star on Jun 27, 2025

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit to strike down portions of a Jackson County firearm ordinance enacted in the wake of a mass shooting at the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally.

The lawsuit, filed in Missouri Western District Court, alleges that the gun ordinance violates the U.S. Constitution, including the Second Amendment, and a Missouri law that severely limits local governments from enacting firearm restrictions.

“Jackson County leaders don’t get to nullify the Constitution just because they disagree with it,” Bailey, a Republican, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit on Friday.

The lawsuit marks the latest salvo in an ongoing fight over whether Jackson County’s ordinance stands up to legal scrutiny. The suit seeks to strike parts of the ordinance that ban anyone under 21 from having a handgun or ammunition and a prohibition on anyone between the ages of 18 and 20 from possessing a semiautomatic assault rifle with certain exceptions.

Bailey filed the legal action with Gun Owners of America, a Virginia-based gun rights group known for accusing the National Rifle Association of being too compromising, and Leonard Wilson Jr., an 18-year-old from mid-Missouri who wishes to buy a handgun from his uncle in Jackson County and shoot an AR-15-style rifle at a county gun range, according to the lawsuit.

The suit names Jackson County, Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forté and Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson as defendants. It asks a judge to find that the firearm restrictions violate the U.S. Constitution and state law and to block local officials from enforcing them.

Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca, who filed the ordinance, said in an interview that the goal of the restrictions was to protect people through common sense gun laws.

“I don’t know what the fetish is of Republicans wanting to have access to high-powered firearms,” Abarca said. “I’m not a sportsman myself, but ... if you’re doing this for sport, I doubt you’re going to be shooting a deer with an AR-15.”

The suit comes as Abarca currently faces legal problems of his own. The legislator was charged with domestic battery against his wife in a highly publicized case earlier this month. He denies the accusations and has pleaded not guilty.

“Not at all,” Abarca said when asked whether he was concerned that the lawsuit placed him back into the spotlight. “This has to do with my work and the work that continues to be the business of my office of the county.”

Inside Jackson County’s restrictions

The legal action from Bailey illustrates the yearslong power struggle over gun regulations between Democratic-leaning Jackson County and Missouri, which has among the loosest gun laws in the country.

Republicans, who hold every statewide office and control both chambers of the General Assembly, have routinely fought against efforts to enact firearm restrictions in the state Capitol.

Abarca filed the ordinance after the Feb. 14 shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl rally when Lisa Lopez-Galvan, 43, was killed and 22 others were injured in gunfire.

Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. vetoed the measure, calling it “fundamentally flawed” and “unlawful” amid a range of legal questions. But the Jackson County Legislature voted to override White’s veto in November.

A spokesperson for White did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Forté, the sheriff, also did not respond. A spokesperson for Johnson, the prosecutor, referred all questions about the lawsuit to county leaders.

Jackson County Legislator Sean Smith, a Republican who opposed the ordinance, said that Bailey’s lawsuit was expected. Smith said he knew the ordinance was unlawful when it passed.

“I get along well with all my legislative colleagues. This is the one vote I remember ever being strictly partisan,” Smith said. “I would like to reduce gun violence, too. I just think we have to do it in a manner that’s lawful.”

Wilson, the 18-year-old lead plaintiff in Bailey’s suit, is described as living in Miller County in the Ozarks region of Missouri.

The lawsuit states that Jackson County’s ordinance prohibits Wilson from purchasing a $300 handgun from his uncle, who lives in Jackson County. It also says that Wilson fears being arrested for transporting other semiautomatic guns to Jackson County, including to a shooting range.

“For example, Wilson wishes to possess his newly acquired AR-15 as he travels from his home in Miller County to his uncle’s home in Jackson County, but fears arrest and prosecution should he do so,” the lawsuit said.

When asked about Wilson’s story in the lawsuit, Abarca said he would “love to have a conversation” with the plaintiff.

“We specifically created a provision for sportsmanship in this,” he said. “I don’t quite understand why some individuals’ affinity for wanting to buy a firearm should threaten the safety and security of other people,” he said.

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