Local Gun Groups Flex Muscle in State Politics, Sidestepping the NRA

Local Gun Groups Flex Muscle in State Politics, Sidestepping the NRA
C.J. Grisham (L), founder of Open Carry Texas, and Greg Holland, a member of Open Carry Texas, in Houston, Tex., on Sept. 24, 2018. Reuters/Loren Elliott
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When Missouri Senate Bill 656 was introduced in 2016, it was relatively modest legislation that proposed capping the amount county sheriffs could charge for a concealed handgun permit.

By the time it passed, with both houses of the state legislature overturning the governor’s veto, it had become one of the most expansive gun-rights laws in the country.