Child care centers, public universities and churches would no longer be "gun-free zones" for Missourians with concealed carry permits under a proposed House bill.
"Is this for show or is this for real?" Rep. Jon Carpenter, D-Kansas City, asked during a Missouri House General Laws committee hearing on Monday.
"I want individuals to be able to choose whether or not they carry a gun to protect themselves and others if the need were to arise," Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, responded.
At the center of the debate was one question: Do more guns make people more or less safe?
Taylor is sponsoring House Bill 630, which would clarify where gun owners can and can’t take their guns based on whether they have a concealed carry permit. The bill would also open up the number of places gun owners with a concealed carry permit can take their guns — including public universities.
The committee heard public testimony on three other gun-related bills, including House Bill 1068, which would attempt to get guns out of the hands of those who have been convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors — a hole in the law left after the General Assembly made concealed carry of a firearm without a permit legal last session.
Opening gun-free zones
With the passing of concealed carry of a weapon without a permit last session, the General Assembly made it easier for Missouri residents to obtain guns but also caused confusion over where those guns were allowed.
HB 630, which outlines restrictions for each category of gun ownership, would clarify that, Taylor said.
Under the bill, those with a concealed carry permit would now be able to take their guns into the following places:
- Within 25 feet of a polling place on election day
- Governmental meetings, including the General Assembly
- Bars
- Public higher education institutes
- Public school parking lots
- Childcare facilities
- Riverboat gambling operations
- Gated areas of amusement parks
- Places of worship
Conversely, gun owners without a permit would be restricted from taking their firearms into the following places:
- Public universities and elementary and secondary schools
- School buses or school functions
- Police stations
- Jails
- Courthouses
- Meetings or committees of the General Assembly
- Airports
- Anywhere federal law bans weapons
- Private property
"Criminals know where the gun-free zones are," Taylor said. "They know they're going to be able to carry out their rampage and likely won't be stopped until law enforcement arrives."
Taylor's bill faced skepticism from both some members of the committee and the public. Guns and alcohol don't mix, lobbyists representing major sports stadiums said. While guns can offer protection from potential predators, others asked whether that outweighs the risk of a stolen gun or a young person’s attempt at suicide.
From a police perspective, adding guns into the mix could pose even more risk, Shannon Cooper, a lobbyist representing Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, said.
"In a situation where there’s an active shooter, our officers have no clue who is a well-intentioned individual trying to help and who isn't," Cooper said. "That split second it might take to determine (that) could cost a lot of people their lives."
But, Taylor said, people already bringing weapons into gun-free zones is exactly why he feels those zones should be eliminated.
"There are already people bringing guns in casinos," he said. "If you think they're not, you're naive. I know that (with a gun) I could protect myself if the need were to arise. Right now, I'm a sitting duck."
Guns in the wrong hands
Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, has been working with both the National Rifle Association and domestic violence experts to close a hole in the law that allows those with domestic violence misdemeanors to have guns.
Under HB 1068, those convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors would have 24 hours to get rid of their guns. Anyone with an order of protection issued against them would have to do the same.
As a child, Lichtenegger witnessed her mother's experiences with domestic violence. When she was 15, Lichtenegger went through the same.
"These are people who don't need to be having guns," Lichtenegger, a registered NRA member, said. "There are people who can handle a gun and people who cannot handle a gun. I never even thought of that before, until all of this past that I had kept buried so deeply boiled out of me when I started working on this bill."
The most dangerous time for a victim of domestic violence is when leaving the abuser, said Colleen Coble, chief executive officer of the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. The coalition said when a gun is present in an abusive situation, risk of homicide increases by 500 percent.
Rep. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis, submitted a similar bill in January. However, McCreery's bill does not include a 24-hour window like HB 1068. Lichtenegger said that even though the 24-hour window is in her bill, she still thinks it is too long.
"That's like putting a ticking bomb into somebody and saying, 'OK, this bomb is going to go off in 24 hours.' All you're doing is saying you have 24 hours to kill that person," Lichtenegger said.
When McCreery asked Lichtenegger why it was included, she responded, "Because that's what NRA wanted."
While an NRA representative was present, he did not testify on behalf of the bill.
Business liability
House Bill 96 would encourage private businesses to allow guns on their property. If a business owner bans guns on their property and anyone inside is hurt when a gun could have been used to protect them, the business would assume liability under the bill.
"This policy of making places gun-free provides a sense of safety to those who engage in magical thinking," bill sponsor Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O'Fallon, said. "These killers are not stopped by a sign on the front door."
By advertising a business as a gun-free zone, Schroer said, businesses are fostering "the dangerous condition we talk about when we talk about premises liability," almost inviting criminals in.
The bill would not apply to businesses that allow guns on their property, a double standard opponents took issue with.
The committee also heard testimony on House Bill 458, which would allow gun owners to keep firearms in their locked cars and would not let property owners and employers prohibit doing so.
See the original story here.