STL judge strikes law requiring guns in parked cars to be locked away

ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis judge took down a local law that required drivers to store firearms in lockboxes or other secured containers while leaving them unattended in vehicles.

The July 15 ruling states that a 2017 ordinance conflicts with a Missouri law that takes away local governments’ ability to regulate firearms.

Circuit Judge Joseph P. Whyte ruled that since the measure conflicts with state gun laws, it  violates the Missouri Constitution’s preemption clause, which prohibits local governments from enacting gun regulations that go beyond state law.

The preemption states:

“The general assembly hereby occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation touching in any way firearms, components, ammunition and supplies to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance or regulation by any political subdivision of this state.”

The ordinance, introduced by former Alderwoman Lyda Krewson and approved unanimously by the Board of Aldermen, aimed to curb gun thefts from vehicles, which city officials say have surged in recent years and often lead to firearms being used in violent crimes.

“Requiring reasonable measures to secure firearms left in unattended vehicles will reduce gun thefts, protect the property of the City’s law-abiding citizens, and prevent stolen guns from falling into the hands of criminals,” aldermen said in the ordinance.

Under the law, gun owners who left firearms unsecured in vehicles could face fines of up to $500 and incarcerations of up to 90 days.

But Attorney General Bailey framed the ordinance as an unconstitutional infringement on Missourians’ Second Amendment rights.

In a gun-related lawsuit in February 2023, Bailey said, “I have long held that the Constitution was meant to be a floor, not a ceiling, and the Second Amendment is the amendment that makes all of the others possible.

The judge’s ruling leans heavily on Missouri Revised Statutes Section 21.750, which expressly prohibits cities and counties from adopting any ordinance or regulation related to the possession, transfer or storage of firearms beyond what state law allows.

Supporters of the ordinance had argued that the measure was tailored not to restrict gun ownership and pointed to data from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department showing more than 1200 guns stolen from vehicles in 2023, a 27% increase over the previous year.

It is still uncertain whether the city plans to appeal the ruling.