“SB 656 (is) a risky gun bill that dismantles Missouri’s concealed carry permit requirement and lets people – including some violent criminals, certain repeat drug offenders, and people with no firearms safety training – carry hidden, loaded handguns in public”, the statement said.
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The new legislation allowsstate residents to hide a firearm without a permit.
Opponents said the new law flies in the face of general opposition throughout Missouri to weaken the state’s concealed-carry permit system.
Republicans, however, said the bill protects the rights of law-abiding citizens. In a letter explaining his veto, Nixon said the measure would “disproportionately” impact senior citizens, people with disabilities and others who have been lawfully voting but don’t have the government-issued photo ID required under the bill.
On the final day of the legislative session in 2016, legislators approved a bill that would allow a person to carry a concealed firearm without a permit.
“I think people that were violent or had tendency to carry for the wrong reasons are already doing that without a permit anyway, and we’re not seeing a rise, so I don’t really think that’s the case, I prefer to see people trained and safe and understand what the applications are”, said Newman.
Supporters of the bill said it will help prevent voter fraud.
Dotson’s opposition to the Republican legislature’s bill is shared by both the state’s fraternal order of police and police chief’s association.
Missouri now joins Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Montana, Vermont, Wyoming, and West Virginia on the list of states that recognize the Second Amendment as a sufficient concealed carry permit for law-abiding residents.
With this move the Missouri legislature follows in the footsteps of West Virginia.
Some say the concealed guns will get into the wrong hands and there will be more violence. It’s the first state to pass such a measure since 2011, although dozens of others have passed similar “stand-your-ground” laws. The hide carry process was the only piece of law “that had any provisions to protect domestic violence victims from precluding their abusers from having weapons was the hide carry permit process”, said Colleen Coble, CEO of the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Although Martin’s killer George Zimmerman, who was ultimately acquitted of charges in the death, did not specifically invoke the statute in his defense, the concept was included as part of the jury’s instructions on self-defense.
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The law also expands “stand your ground” rights to public places.
