Senator Vows To Advance Concealed Weapons Measure

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Senate committee chairman guaranteed Tuesday that a bill allowing qualified Missourians to carry concealed guns would be approved by the panel and sent to the full chamber for debate.

"It will pass," Sen. Delbert Scott said after the Senate Pensions and General Laws Committee heard testimony on the legislation. Scott, R-Lowry City, said the committee would vote on the bill Wednesday.

The legislation won House approval on a 108-33 vote last month, but similar House-passed measures have died in the Senate in previous years.

Rep. Larry Crawford said his bill would allow Missourians to protect themselves and contains some of the toughest restrictions in the nation.

"It's a very strict bill," Crawford, R-Centertown, told the Senate committee. "It's probably got more restrictions than we need."

Crawford also said his legislation is stricter than a concealed weapons proposal that was defeated by Missouri voters in 1999.

Under the bill, people 21 and older could apply to their county sheriffs for permits that would let them carry concealed guns anywhere except specified places, such as churches and government buildings.

Applicants would have to take an eight-hour safety course and pass background checks, and permits would be denied to people with certain criminal histories or mental conditions.

"This will give the citizens of Missouri a means of defending themselves against criminal attack," said Gary Davis of Kansas City, a member of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance. "I think I would stand a better chance of getting killed in Kansas City, Missouri, than I did when I served in Vietnam."

Opponents said they worried the bill would create more fear because anyone could be concealing a weapon.

"We cannot prevent terror by creating more terror," said Todd Elkins, a Community of Christ pastor from St. Joseph. "This bill sends us in the wrong direction."

Gov. Bob Holden has threatened to veto any concealed guns measure that is similar to the 1999 proposal. The governor has said he is opposed to the current legislation.