Will Schmitt

WSCHMITT@NEWS-LEADER.COM

JEFFERSON CITY — A Nixa lawmaker's proposal to increase the number of places where firearms can be legally carried received a hefty amount of opposition and a smattering of support at a House hearing Monday.

Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, proposes allowing people with permits to carry concealed weapons to bring firearms into the state Capitol and onto the grounds of higher education institutions. Additionally, people could bring firearms into places like bars, churches, sporting arenas, day cares and hospitals without a CCW if his bill becomes law.

Private businesses would still be allowed to bar people from bringing weapons onto their premises.

Taylor said gun-free zones were dangerous and resulted in easy targets. He references previous shootings that had occurred in areas where people were not allowed to carry firearms, including the 2015 shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon where a gunman killed nine before turning his weapon on himself.

Such sweeping changes prompted about 30 minutes of questioning alone from Rep. Jon Carpenter, D-Kansas City, who aimed to pick apart the bill line by line during Monday's hearing of the House Committee on General Laws.

Carpenter's concerns included allowing people to bring guns into private schools, public transportation, polling places and casinos. He said he occasionally frequented casinos and couldn't think of a worse idea than allowing guns into places where people in "dicey personal and emotional circumstances" might gamble and lose their lives' savings, not to mention the possibility that they may be drunk.

"Is this for show, or is this for real?" Carpenter asked

Taylor assured him he was sincere and said he, for one, would feel safer if he knew people could legally bring guns into casinos, including himself. "Right now, I'm a sitting duck."

Taylor told Carpenter that since SB 656 was passed, Missouri had not seen "the Wild West shootings that you're imagining."

Supporting the legislation were Dale Roberts, who heads the Columbia Police Officers Association, and Alexandra Salsman of the Missouri Firearms Coalition, who silently stacked what she said were thousands of yellow testimonials in favor of the bill while Taylor and others in the room fought back a smile.

Gun-free zones put law-abiding citizens at a disadvantage, Salsman said.

Carpenter noted that "we are not stamped 'law-abiding citizen' and 'non-law-abiding citizen.'"

But the opponents who showed up in person were more numerous. Those against the legislation included representatives of Missouri State University, many of the state's community colleges, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Chiefs.

MSU President Clif Smart mentioned the bill in his Tuesday "Clif's Notes" column, noting that the bill did not contain any exceptions for specific situations where firearms might be prohibited on campus and saying MSU had been in contact with Taylor.

"We will continue to monitor this legislation and work to ensure that our Board of Governors retains the ability to reasonably regulate firearms on campus," Smart wrote.

John Bardgett, a lobbyist testifying on behalf of several groups including the Cardinals, said most people would agree that the following items don't go well together: "50,000 people. Alcohol. Competitive sports stuff. And guns."

Also filling the hearing room were Missourians like Becky Morgan who volunteered for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which advocates against gun violence. Morgan was particularly concerned with the idea of letting people bring weapons into bars.

"Guns and alcohol do not mix," she said.

The hearing was continued as it ran long and so overlapped with the House's commencement on Monday.

The General Laws committee approved Taylor's bill Tuesday evening on a 9-3, party-line vote.

Also receiving a hearing Monday was a bill filed by Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O'Fallon, that would allow Missourians relieved of their weapons to sue businesses if they were injured in gun-free zones. Schroer acknowledged that his bill was unlikely to pass but could start a conversation for the next session.

Both bills are short on the time needed for them to be approved by a House committee, brought up for debate on the chamber floor, approved by the full body and proceed with similar success in the Senate. The final day lawmakers are scheduled to be in session is May 12.

Last year, the General Assembly overrode former Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of Senate Bill 656, which made it easier to carry concealed weapons and lowered the standard for legal use of force.

Newly relaxed concealed-carry, deadly-force laws put Missouri in the national spotlight

Nixa legislator wants gun-free zones eliminated