Aug. 11, 2022, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Richard Manning today released the following statement responding to Missouri AG Eric Schmidt’s July 13 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray pledging to fight FBI attempts to illegally obtain private information of concealed carry permit holders in the state:
“Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s defense of the privacy and individual right to keep and bear arms of the people of the Show Me state is a model for how the top law enforcement officer of a state should respond to unlawful actions by federal law enforcement.
“Upon learning that the FBI intended to come to counties in Missouri to harvest individual concealed carry permit information in direct violation of state law, which explicitly prohibits the sharing of this information with ‘federal, state or private entities’. Schmitt sent a blistering letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray promising to fight him ‘tooth and nail with all the resources the people have given me as their Attorney General.’
“AG Schmitt excoriated the FBI for abuses of power which have cost them the trust of the people citing their targeting of parents of school children who showed up to express concerns to their local school boards, the on-going six-year-long witch-hunt against President Trump and the ‘sitting on evidence of criminal activity on Hunter Biden’s laptop’ as proof of the untrustworthiness of the once respected Agency.’
“Schmitt reminded Wray of the recent U.S. Supreme Court 6-3 decision in the New York Rifle and Pistol Association case which strongly affirmed the individual right to BEAR arms stating that it shall not be infringed. In telling the FBI that the state of Missouri would not stand for the ‘targeting’ of Missouri gun owners, Schmitt drew a line in the sand that every other state Attorney General should follow.
“I often criticize politicians of both political parties for failing to have the courage to stand up in the fight to maintain and restore individual liberty in America. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is a shining example of what liberty lovers who hold positions of power should do to stand up against federal abuses of power.”
Read the letter from Missouri AG Schmidt to FBI Director Christopher Wray here.
For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.
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