(Missourinet) – Kansas City and St. Louis are working to identify gaps in Missouri’s gun laws. To address the violent crime plaguing their cities, they propose banning high-powered guns and preventing minors from accessing firearms.
The proposed restrictions appear unlikely to gain support from some Republican leaders. In Missouri, individuals can carry concealed weapons without a permit.
When Missourinet asked Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, whether he would support local gun restrictions that stay within legal bounds, he responded:
“I think you have to be very careful to stay in your lanes,” said Parson. “Cities can’t just go out and do whatever they want. When there’s a constitutional issue or state legislatures get involved, they can’t supersede that. Just like we can’t supersede the federal government. I wish it were that easy because there are a lot of things I don’t like that the federal government mandates.”
In 2021, the Republican-controlled legislature passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which penalizes police for enforcing federal gun laws. A federal court ruled the law unconstitutional, but Attorney General Andrew Bailey is appealing the decision.
Bailey, also a Republican, said St. Louis’s proposed gun restrictions are unconstitutional.
“I understand the need to protect the community, but people with guns can also protect themselves and their communities,” Bailey told Missourinet. “Cities like Chicago have some of the most restrictive gun laws and are among the most violent. We should be targeting criminals, not guns.”
Bailey’s office has put Mayor Tishaura Jones’s office “on notice.”
“Your proposal would not survive the strict scrutiny analysis codified in the Missouri Constitution, which requires a compelling state interest to be addressed with a narrowly tailored remedy. Your proposal is not narrowly tailored to actually stop crime, as evidenced by your statement that ‘Chicago has strict gun laws but that doesn’t deter gun violence.’ I hope you will use existing law to combat crime rather than targeting the rights of law-abiding Missourians,” Bailey wrote in a letter to Jones.
The Kansas City Police Department has reported 129 homicides so far this year, while the St. Louis Police Department’s homicide report shows 105 reported homicides.
Jones aims to:
- Ban “military-grade” assault weapons
- Prevent the sale or transfer of guns to minors
- Take action against ghost guns, which are untraceable firearms
- Prepare St. Louis for the passage of Blair’s Law, which would ban celebratory gunfire
“The legislation we’ll be filing in the coming days addresses issues not currently covered by the state legislature. Does that mean they won’t try to pass things later? Absolutely. Or sue us? Absolutely. But we’re going to fight like hell with the one hand we have free,” said Jones.
The Kansas City Council has advanced two gun proposals: one to ban machine guns, firearm silencers, and fully automatic weapons; the second to make it illegal to transfer weapons and ammunition to minors.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is confident that the proposals comply with Missouri law.
