A proposal to prohibit minors from carrying firearms in public without adult supervision was defeated by a vote of 104-39 in the Missouri House of Representatives.
The Republican-led state congress voted on Feb. 8 against banning minors from openly carrying firearms, with only one Republican voting in favor of the ban.
Lawmakers repealed the concealed carry requirement for most situations in 2017, leading to this week’s push to reinstate it.
Aimed at Those Under 18
The amendment was presented during an hours-long debate in the House on the best strategy to combat crime, particularly in the St. Louis area.Republican Rep. Lane Roberts—a former Joplin, Missouri, police chief and state public safety director—first included the limitations on juveniles carrying firearms in a broader crime bill, which the House agreed to approve in principle later on Feb. 8.
Last week, though, lawmakers on a House committee led by Roberts repealed the firearms provision.
The amendment stated that the law applied to someone who is, “under 18 years of age, is on public property, is not accompanied by an adult twenty-one years of age or older, and is not possessing the firearm as otherwise allowed by law.”
State Allows Concealed Carry
Other parts of the bill would empower the governor to appoint a special prosecutor in counties with high crime rates, which would be aimed squarely at St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.Republican lawmakers have long chastised Gardner, a 47-year-old Democrat who was elected as St. Louis’ first black female prosecutor in 2016.
She is one of a number of progressive prosecutors elected in recent years with the goal of making changes to the criminal justice system. Republican lawmakers, however, claim she is not doing enough to combat crime.
The amendment would have rolled back portions of a law enacted in 2017 that allowed open or concealed carrying of firearms even without a permit.
Prior to the enactment of that law, those caught carrying a concealed gun without a permit could be charged with a felony.
