Missouri lawmakers return to Jefferson City this week for what could be called a Tale of Two Sessions.

Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, called a special session beginning today to consider ending several tax breaks for business. The effort is expected to be a dud, with Republican lawmakers refusing to give the proposals a hearing.

The missiles begin flying, however, on Wednesday when lawmakers consider whether to override Holden's vetoes regarding two of the most explosive issues in the state: concealed guns and abortion.

Senate Minority Leader Ken Jacob, a Columbia Democrat, said the tone of the sessions reflects the priorities of the Republican leaders, who took control of both chambers this year for the first time since 1948.

"My view is that the state is facing serious problems," Jacob said. "Guns and abortion shouldn't be at the top of the agenda. The top issues should be the cuts to schools and higher education."

The veto session will have gun rights supporters mingling with demonstrators on both sides of the abortion question.

The Western Missouri Shooters Alliance has scheduled a bus from Kansas City to the Capitol on Wednesday.

Missouri Right to Life, a leading abortion opponent, has chartered five to seven buses to bring members and their allies to Jefferson City, said Larry Weber, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference.

And Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri joined with the Missouri Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice to launch a letter-writing campaign to urge lawmakers to uphold the veto. Planned Parenthood is taking a busload of people from Kansas City to the Capitol.

The gun bill would legalize concealed weapons in Missouri for the first time since the 1870s. The other bill would require women seeking an abortion to consult with a doctor 24 hours before undergoing the procedure.

The Missouri legislature has overridden a governor's veto only seven times in history. The last time was in 1999, when lawmakers overrode Gov. Mel Carnahan's veto of a bill that banned a late-term abortion procedure known as partial-birth abortion. The law, however, never took effect because federal courts threw it out.

A two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate is needed to override a veto. The House is expected to vote to override both vetoes. The Senate votes are expected to be close, with the abortion bill likely to be approved.

On Thursday, several hundred doctors are planning to appear in the Capitol to urge lawmakers to override Holden's veto of a bill that would lower the amount of money patients can collect when they are injured through a doctor's negligence. Physicians groups say the bill would lower their liability insurance costs. Opponents say it would have little, if any, effect on insurance rates, but would protect incompetent doctors.

The special session kicks off at noon today. House leaders will meet today and Tuesday in what are known as technical sessions. They will formally introduce bills and assign them to committees.

The Republican majority in the House, which refused to consider any changes that would increase business taxes during the last special session that ended in June, has shown no signs of changing.

Holden had hoped that cuts in state aid to local schools would be so painful they would prompt school officials to complain loudly enough to force Republican legislators to relent and end four tax breaks used by big business.

While school groups have complained, the groundswell of support that Holden was looking for has not materialized. Weber, an influential lobbyist in Jefferson City, said he expected no movement toward a tax increase.

"The ground hasn't swelled under my feet yet," he said.