Missouri Lawmakers Pass Sweeping Gun Rights Expansion

Missouri Lawmakers Pass Sweeping Gun Rights Expansion
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMAY 14, 2016
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri lawmakers have passed a sweeping expansion of gun rights in the state, one that would allow people to carry concealed guns without requiring permits and widen their right to stand and fight against perceived threats.
The legislation, which now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon for his signature, was among the most prominent measures passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature on the final day of its annual session on Friday. Mr. Nixon, a Democrat, did not have an immediate comment on the bill.
Under the measure, most people would be able to carry concealed guns, even if they have not completed the training currently required to obtain a permit.
The legislation would also expand the state’s “castle doctrine” by allowing invited guests, such as babysitters, to use deadly force against intruders. It would also create a “stand your ground” right, meaning people would not have to retreat from danger in any place they are legally entitled to be present.
While many Democrats denounced it, Republican supporters of the bill described the measures as reasonable approaches to personal safety.
“There won’t be blood in the streets,” said State Representative Joe Don McGaugh, a Republican. “But what there will be is more people protected by the right to bear an arm legally.”
Ten other states already have what supporters describe as “constitutional carry” laws allowing concealed guns without permits, including ones enacted this year in Idaho, Mississippi and West Virginia, according to the National Rifle Association.
The N.R.A. says 30 states have laws or court precedents stating people have no duty to retreat from a threat anywhere they are lawfully present. But Missouri’s measure would make it the first new stand your ground state since 2011, according to both the N.R.A. and Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group.
Florida’s stand your ground law came under national scrutiny after George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in 2012.
Mr. Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges and, while Florida’s stand your ground law was not directly mentioned in his trial, it was included in the judge’s instructions to the jury.
Several Democratic lawmakers in Missouri cited the Zimmerman case while raising concerns that the legislation could lead to a shoot-first mentality and dubious self-defense claims.
“It doesn’t make the state safer, it opens it up to murder,” said State Representative Brandon Ellington, a Democrat from Kansas City and the chairman of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus.
Other black lawmakers said that, if the bill becomes law, they feared more black residents would be shot by people prejudiced against them.
“To me, this is modern-day lynching,” said another Democrat, State Representative Kimberly Gardner of St. Louis. “This bill would allow open season for vigilante-style behavior and put all of us at risk.”
The legislation passed the Republican-led Senate on a 24-8 vote along party lines. The House then gave its approval, 114-36, with a little more than an hour remaining before the session’s mandatory close.
The final day of Missouri’s session is typically a fast-paced affair. But senators who worked late the night before did not bring up the gun legislation on Friday until after finishing a lunch sponsored by a number of the state’s largest utilities and lobbying firms.
Senators adjourned on Friday without acting on a House bill that would have banned most gifts from lobbyists, excluding meals to which all lawmakers and state elected officials are invited to attend.
That bill was seen as a priority for Mr. Nixon and the new Republican House speaker, Todd Richardson, who took over last year after his predecessor resigned amid a texting scandal involving an intern.
Other bills that fell by the wayside on Friday included several that would have imposed additional restrictions on abortion. Another would have asked voters to raise the state’s fuel tax by nearly 6 cents per gallon to generate more than $235 million annually for roads and bridges.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/us/missouri-lawmakers-pass-sweeping-gun-rights-expansion.html?_r=0