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Concealed weapons OK in Missouri, but not Jackson County
The Kansas City Star
JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Supreme Court ruled today that most Missourians can apply for permits to carry concealed guns, but denied that right to residents of Jackson and three other counties.
However, the court's ruling in the contentious, decade-long battle over hidden handguns strongly suggested that a future lawsuit could block handgun permits in the state's other 110 counties and the city of St. Louis.
The Supreme Court voted 5-2 to overturn a lower court decision that had declared the state's new concealed weapons law unconstitutional. But, in an opinion written by Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., the court found that the new law violated the state Constitution on other grounds.
The high court's decision found that the cost of issuing permits violated the Constitution's Hancock Amendment by imposing an unfunded mandate on county sheriffs.
But the court ruled that it had evidence that the costs of issuing permits exceeded state funding only in Jackson, Camden, Green and Cape Girardeau counties. Therefore, the law regarding the issuance of concealed-gun permits is unconstitutional only in those counties, the court ruled.
The question of whether the permits are an unfunded mandate in other counties requires proof on a county-by-bounty basis, Limbaugh wrote. The court, he said, would not speculate about those costs and would not take up the issue of whether counties could voluntarily absorb the cost of issuing the permits.
In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Ronnie White wrote that the law should be held unconstitutional statewide because all counties will incur increased costs.
The law, enacted last September when the General Assembly overrode Gov. Bob Holden's veto, allows county sheriffs to charge applicants up to $100 for a permit to carry a concealed gun. But the law also allowed the money to be used only for training and equipment.
The Supreme Court ruled that the fee did not cover the costs of issuing the permits, which include additional personnel and the $38 charged by the Highway Patrol to check fingerprints and perform a criminal background check.
“Although some of the increased costs may be incurred for training and equipment and properly reimbursed from the (application fee), substantial costs may be incurred for other purposes, as well,” Limbaugh wrote. “If so, there is an unfunded mandate.”
Advocates on both sides of the issue called the decision a victory.
Richard Miller, a Kansas City lawyer who represented people challenging the law, said the decision means that all it takes is one person in each county to challenge the law. No county can avoid incurring significant costs in issuing the permits and the court has held that such costs are unconstitutional unless they are reimbursed by the state, he said.
“If counties start issuing permits, there is a plan to (challenge the law) if we are asked by any citizen in those counties,” Miller said. “We have the right to ask for costs and attorney fees from any county that loses. So (county officials) should be very careful about incurring unnecessary expenses before they attempt to issue any permits.”
Rep. Larry Crawford, the Centertown Republican who carried the bill through the legislature last year, said the decision simply allows some counties to choose not to issue permits to their residents. But residents of other counties who have permits will be able to carry concealed guns statewide.
In addition, the court found constitutional a provision of the law that allows anyone over the age of 21 to carry concealed weapon within the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle.
“We always said the car carry provision will take care of 90 percent of the people who want a concealed weapon,” Crawford said. “It will send a message to criminals that they ought to go to Illinois where citizens can't carry a (concealed) gun in their cars.”
Source: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/8048882.htm
Missouri's concealed guns law at a glance
Associated Press
Key elements of Missouri's law allowing most adults to seek permits to carry concealed guns:
APPLICANTS
Missourians at least age 23 may apply to their county sheriff for a permit to carry concealed guns. Based on Thursday's Missouri Supreme Court ruling that otherwise upheld the constitutionality of the law passed last year, permits aren't required to be issued in four counties that argued to the court that the permit process was an unfunded mandate: Jackson, Cape Girardeau, Greene and Camden. An applicant must be a U.S. citizen and either live in Missouri for six months or be stationed in the state with the U.S. military. Applicants must undergo state and federal criminal background checks and pay $100 for a three-year permit, with a renewal cost of $50.
DISQUALIFICATION
Permits are denied to anyone who has been charged with or convicted of a felony; convicted of a violent misdemeanor; or twice convicted of driving while intoxicated in the previous five years; dishonorably discharged from the military; is mentally incompetent; or is believed by the sheriff to be "a danger to himself or others."
TRAINING
Applicants must complete an eight-hour training course on handgun safety and marksmanship, as well as the safe care, cleaning and storage of firearms. The course must include a live firing exercise during which applicants must hit a silhouette target placed seven yards away with at least 15 of 20 shots.
LOCATIONS
Concealed guns are prohibited in police stations, prisons, courthouses, hospitals, airports, amusement parks and sports arenas that seat at least 5,000. Guns also are prohibited, unless those in charge grant exceptions, at schools, colleges, child-care facilities, churches, casinos and bars. Concealed guns are allowed elsewhere, unless private property owners conspicuously post signs prohibiting them.
VIOLATIONS
People with concealed gun permits who carry weapons into off-limits places cannot face criminal charges but can be asked to leave. If they refuse to leave, law officers can cite them with a $100 fine for the first offense. A second offense within six months is punishable by a $200 fine and a one-year suspension of the permit. A third offense within a year results in a fine up to $500 and a three-year revocation of the person's concealed guns permit.
RECORDS
Applications for concealed gun permits are closed to public inspection, and sheriffs are barred from releasing the information.
VEHICLES
Missourians at least age 21 can conceal guns within the passenger compartment of their vehicles without having to satisfy any of the requirements for carrying a concealed gun.