Will Schmitt

WSCHMITT@NEWS-LEADER.COM

A Republican lawmaker from O'Fallon has filed a bill that would allow law-abiding gun owners to sue businesses that ban firearms on their premises.

Rep.-elect Nick Schroer said his intent for this bill is similar to another he filed Thursday that would make it a hate crime to attack a police officer, firefighter or EMT because of their occupation. In both cases, the goal is deterrence.

The proposal, known as House Bill 96, which would apply when a person who is authorized to carry a firearm, is prohibited from doing so by a business and is then injured by another person or an animal.

If the injured person could otherwise have used a gun for self-defense, they could sue the business, which "assume(s) custodial responsibility for the safety and defense of any person" on their property who could carry.

In September, lawmakers overrode Gov. Jay Nixon's veto and passed laws that relax restrictions on carrying firearms and use of deadly force. Under the law, private property owners can post an 11-by-14 inch sign with one-inch letters to declare their premises as off-limits to concealed firearms.

There are a few hoops potential plaintiffs would have to hop through, Schroer said. For instance, felons who wouldn't be allowed to carry a firearm anyway wouldn't be allowed to sue, and the bill includes a two-year statute of limitations.

Schroer wasn't aware of any cases in Missouri that his bill would have affected, pointing instead to attacks including James Holmes' rampage at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado that left 12 dead and dozens more wounded.

By making the property a gun-free zone, Schroer said, the Aurora theater "almost put a target on the back of all the customers there that had to disarm themselves."

Schroer said he worked with House research staff to draft the bill and was inspired by a similar law in Tennessee. The sponsor behind the bill in Missouri's southeastern neighbor also cited the Colorado shooting as a reason to change the law.

Schroer said he met with small businesses when he was campaigning and talked about regulation and would like to meet with the National Federation of Independent Business "to find a happy medium."

As for pushback to the bill, Schroer was aware that some would be wary of "all these people coming in with their guns" and that some might think "it's gonna be like the Wild West," but he remains a believer in the logic that a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun.

He says the liability in his bill would make businesses reconsider their actions as it pertains to patron safety, citing as an example businesses that don't put out "Wet Floor" signs after mopping.

"Hopefully, business owners are going to start looking at these decisions," Schroer said, adding that he hoped to start a discussion on campus carry and ending gun-free zones.