Judge Issues TRO To Prevent Missouri Department of Revenue From Backdoor Gun Registration

By Susan Duclos

A Missouri state judge has issued a temporary restraining order ( TRO ) against the Missouri Department of Revenue, to prevent them from an end run around the constitution to collect information which would be a de facto gun registration.

Missouri’s Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder went on The Dana Show to explain an attempt by Obama’s DHS to collect information on residents, via Missouri’s Department of Revenue, which violates several Missouri state statutes.

Kinder’s office issued a statement, via his website.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder backs fee office
lawsuit in Stoddard County
Legal action taken against fee offices over privacy concerns

JEFFERSON CITY – Lt. Governor Peter Kinder today
hosted a press conference in the Capitol to announce a lawsuit filed
over the collection and scanning of private documents by the Missouri
Department of Revenue for residents seeking concealed carry gun permits.

The lawsuit was filed Monday by Russ Oliver in Stoddard County.
Oliver is Stoddard County’s prosecuting attorney. He filed the lawsuit
as a private attorney on behalf of Eric Griffin.

“I fully support Mr. Oliver in this important legal action in
Stoddard County Circuit Court,” Kinder said. “This case has issues of
statewide importance implicating serious privacy concerns for
law-abiding citizens. These folks have followed the letter of the law
and been approved for concealed carry by the proper authorities. They
must not be required to share that information with any third parties or
the federal government.”

Oliver said Mr. Griffin went to his local Department of Motor
Vehicles fee office after passing the application process for a
concealed carry gun permit. When he refused to let DMV employees scan
some of his documentation, he was denied the permit.

Oliver said Griffin acted within his rights. He said the Department
of Revenue apparently installed new computer equipment to record the
information as part of the federal Real ID Act of 2005.

But state laws prohibit the department from retaining and collecting
these types of documents and from complying with that portion of the
Real ID Act. The data the DOR collected was being forwarded to Morpho
Trust U.S.A., a Georgia company that specializes in partnering with
state and federal governmental agencies.

“There are important privacy concerns for concealed carry holders who
justly fear their information being sent to a third party or the
federal government,” Oliver said. “Missouri law makes it clear that what
is going on here is illegal, and serves no legitimate purpose since the
county sheriff is solely charged with the duty of determining
applicants’ eligibility for the endorsement.”

The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to stop the
Department of Revenue from collecting and sharing the private data and
declare their actions unlawful.

The TRO has been granted .

Judge Robert N. Mayer from the 35th Judicial Circuit in Missouri
signed a temporary restraining order this afternoon at 4 p.m. stating
that the defendant, Elizabeth Rowland, Stoddard County Fee Office Agent,
has “no legitimate purpose in disclosure of this protected personal
information to the Federal Government,” according to the restraining
order.

The restraining order states that Rowland has been restrained and
enjoined from collecting and retaining the birth certificate, residency
documents and application of the Plaintiff, Eric Griffin, as well as any
other citizen of Stoddard County, as well as the dissemination of that
documentation to the federal government.

The preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m., March 12.

The Dana Show has the TRO, page one here, and page two here.

H/T @thomassfl via email.