Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office sent a letter this week to sheriffs statewide ordering them not to comply with an FBI audit of concealed carry permitted gun holders.
Scotland County Sheriff Brian Whitney is among the sheriffs who received the Aug. 9 letter, which continues Schmitt's position from last month.
"We received a letter by email Monday, a new letter that the media has not gotten a hold of, from general counsel in the Attorney General's office that advised us to not comply with any audit," Whitney told the St. Louis Record.
Schmitt, who recently was elected the Republican primary candidate for election to the U.S. Senate in November, originally told FBI Director Christopher Wray in a July 13 letter that obtaining information about concealed carry permit holders is illegal statewide.
“The FBI has absolutely no business poking around in the private information of those who have obtained a concealed carry permit in Missouri,” Schmitt wrote. “The Second Amendment rights of Missourians will absolutely not be infringed on my watch. I will use the full power of my Office to stop the FBI, which has become relentlessly politicized and has virtually no credibility, from illegally prying around in the personal information of Missouri gun owners.”
Out of 114 county sheriffs' offices in Missouri, the FBI attempted to randomly audit 24, but they all refused to comply, according to Whitney.
"They didn't participate in the audit and they were labeled as non-compliant," he said. "What non-compliant means or does, I don't know but they're not going to eat us."
So far, the Scotland County Sheriff's Office has not been among those that were randomly selected for an audit by FBI agents.
"I would be committing a crime if I complied with an audit," Whitney said. "There's a Missouri law that strictly prohibits the sheriff from releasing any concealed carry documents
to government entities or to the public."
Schmitt’s letter this week was sent a day after the unprecedented search of former President Trump’s Florida residence in Mar-a-Lago.
"I'm also sworn to uphold Missouri law plus to protect my citizens and my voters and I will do it until the very, very, very end if need be," Whitney added.