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Gun bills back in Missouri politics
by Kit Wagar

JEFFERSON CITY - The legislature's gun-rights advocates, who spent much of last year lying low, have roared back this year with at least seven bills to keep gun owners happy.

Two of those proposals would prohibit the state or local governments from suing gun makers to recover the cost of dealing with gun violence, as the city of St. Louis has done. Five others would liberalize the state's ban on carrying concealed handguns.

Gun-control supporters are especially angered by the concealed- weapons bills coming up less than two years after Missouri voters rejected a proposal to legalize concealed firearms.

"I think it's really sneaky," said Stacey Newman, co-president of the St. Louis chapter of the Million Mom March, which was formed to fight gun violence. "The voters had their say. We're blown away that they are bringing it up again."

The 1999 proposal was the first statewide popular vote on whether to allow citizens to legally carry concealed weapons. Known as Proposition B, the plan lost by 44,000 votes, or 52 percent to 48 percent, despite gun-rights groups spending more than $4 million, mostly from the National Rifle Association.

The vote, however, reflected a classic split between the city and the country. Urban voters opposed the bill nearly 2-1; rural voters supported it 3-2.

House Speaker Jim Kreider, a Democrat from Nixa in southwest Missouri, is a strong gun-rights supporter. He said the issue was being raised again because rural lawmakers' constituents wanted to be able to carry concealed handguns.

The issue is a special concern to outstate Democrats, who are being beaten up politically for their party leaders' opposition to loosening gun laws, Kreider said. Al Gore, he said, paid the highest price.

"The gun issue was big in last year's election," Kreider said. "I think that's why (George W.) Bush won Missouri. We Democrats have a tough time in rural areas because we were linked to 'anti-gun Gore.' "

The bills also reflect a marked shift in the legislature. Republicans, who gained two Senate seats, now control the state Senate for the first time in 52 years. Several new senators are even more conservative than their predecessors.

The changes have sparked serious consideration for proposals that received scant attention in previous years. A proposal by Sen. Peter Kinder, the president pro tem, would prohibit cities and counties from suing gun makers for marketing an inherently dangerous product.

The proposal has been approved by the Senate and is awaiting action in the House.

Last year the same proposal never was brought up for a vote on the Senate floor. In 1999 a similar bill never even got a hearing in a House committee.

Similarly only one bill was introduced last year that authorized concealed weapons, and it applied only to prosecutors and coroners. The five bills introduced this year range from authorizing concealed weapons only for prosecutors to authorizing them for nearly everyone who applied for a permit.

The issue has more momentum this year than it has had in the past several years. Kreider set up the Special Committee on Sportsmanship, Safety and Firearms so that gun-related legislation would not get lost amid other bills.

Mel Carnahan, who was governor from 1993 to 2000, always threatened to veto a concealed-weapons bill. Gov. Bob Holden, who has opposed concealed guns in the past, said last week that he was willing to consider signing a concealed- weapons bill.

"I'm willing to look at any proposal to see whether there is room for compromise," Holden said. "But I will not back down on gun safety or on good law enforcement."

The issue's momentum hit a snag last week when a 15-year-old gunman killed two classmates and wounded 13 others at a high school near San Diego. The day after the shooting, supporters canceled a House panel's hearing on concealed- weapons bills.

Supporters of concealed weapons said the hearing cancellation in the wake of the shooting on the West Coast was coincidental, but they acknowledged that such tragedies would slow efforts to liberalize the state's gun laws.

The bills are modeled after 1999's Proposition B, but most include several additional restrictions to answer the criticism that opponents leveled two years ago. The leading bill is sponsored by House Majority Leader Wayne Crump, a Potosi Democrat.

The proposal would require 12 hours of training to obtain a concealed- weapons permit. The training would require an applicant to hit a silhouette target at least 15 of 50 times from a distance of seven feet.

The bill also would require the applicant to show a need for the permit. Neither side is enamored of the proposal. Gun-rights advocates say it is unfair to require applicants to show a need to exercise a right to carry a gun.

"Need-based bills are prone to abuse," said Kevin Jamison, an attorney for the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance. "In other states, if you have political pull, you have a need. If you don't have pull, then you don't have a need."

Critics argue that "need" is so broadly defined that anyone with parents or children could qualify. The bill, they said, would make Missouri less safe by significantly increasing the number of guns on city streets.

Gun-control proponents said they should have known that gun- rights lawmakers would not stay out of the saddle for long.

Newman, of the Million Mom March, said the NRA had redoubled its efforts after its candidates lost races for governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate last year. That simply sets up another showdown, she said.

"The NRA has lost lots of money in Missouri, but they are not ready to quit," Newman said. "We aren't either."

To reach Kit Wagar, Jefferson City correspondent, call (816) 234-4440 or send e-mail to kwagar@kcstar.com

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