KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- On Thursday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced via X that he plans to sue Jackson County over what he calls an "illegal attempt to violate Missourians' right to keep and bear arms." Earlier this month, Jackson County legislators passed a new gun ordinance that bans anyone 18-21 from owning handguns and semi-automatic rifles, with some specific exceptions. Legislator Manny Abarca, the ordinance’s sponsor, said the idea stemmed from the Chiefs rally shooting on February 14, “where juveniles had high-powered firearms and used them in a way that was damaging to so many people. Everyone gets to claim they were defending themselves. And no one is providing the justice needed for those kids who pulled those triggers.”  He also said that the current law is restricting for law enforcement officers. “You stop a car full of kids, there’s a gun, everyone’s a teenager, law enforcement cannot take that weapon from them right now in the state of Missouri, they can’t even talk about it,” he said. “That is ridiculous.” Additionally, the ordinance was vetoed by Jackson County Executive Frank White. However, legislators doubled down, overriding White's veto. Police may have suspects in Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce burglaries Now, Missouri AG Bailey will sue the county, something White says comes as no surprise. A statement released from White's office on Thursday reads: "This announcement comes as no surprise. From the start, I made it clear that this ordinance violated Missouri law. While I strongly disagree with the state’s preemption of local gun regulations—because I believe communities should have the ability to protect themselves—ignoring the law doesn’t lead to progress. It leads to predictable legal challenges and wasted resources, and unfortunately, this ordinance will do more harm to gun safety advocacy than doing nothing at all." White also went on to argue that passing ordinances like this is highly unproductive and even wasteful. "When leaders pass laws that they know won’t hold up in court, they don’t just waste taxpayer money—they erode the trust people place in government," his statement reads. "They create frustration and cynicism, making it harder to build the kind of consensus we need to take meaningful action. Progress on gun safety isn’t achieved through political theater or performative gestures; it’s achieved through thoughtful, lawful, and sustained efforts to bring people together around real solutions." Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android Bailey clearly agrees, saying explicitly in his release that he "has reason to believe that the Jackson County Legislature's recent override of Frank White's veto of Ordinance 5865 violated Missouri law." Arbaca, on the other hand, thinks the ordinance makes perfect sense, even if the lawsuit is inevitable. “In a state where we’re placing guns over people’s lives? Unfortunately, there’s some ramifications for taking an approach of drawing back some common sense gun reforms,” Abarca said. “We care enough about the people that we will put the guns aside and say that juveniles should not possess firearms.” Abarca claims the only way to prevent juveniles from carrying firearms is to enact policy and he’s willing to work with those on the other side of the aisle to make it happen. “I’m more than willing to go back to the drawing board and look at how we can better the preemption laws, protect the rights of second amendment providers that are common sense and using them the right way,” he said. “But we also have some issues that we need to address. It is our gun laws and our failure to address the reality that we need to fix these laws or we’re going to continue this violence and there is no solution until there’s a solution policy-wise.”