JEFFERSON CITY • Municipalities wouldn't get to ban certain types of dog breeds under a measure passed by the Missouri House on Thursday.

The proposal, sponsored by state Rep. Ron Hicks, R-St. Peters, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support 117-17.

The bill is targeted at municipalities such as Florissant, which banned ownership of pit bulls in 2005.

"At first glance I thought I was going to be a 'no' vote on this bill because I generally am very respectful of local control," said state Rep. Tracy McCreery, D-Creve Coeur. "Upon further research I realized that most of these identifications of breed-specific bans are done visually and are not accurate at all.

"Even people that work in shelters and veterinary offices admit that they cannot correctly identify the breed of the dogs by visual identification," she said. "And the impact of that on families is that they've had dogs removed from their homes for just some random, you know, pit bull ban, for example."

Other lawmakers said that their experiences with pit bulls buck the stereotype that the dogs are dangerous.