{"id":91869,"date":"2023-04-14T18:39:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T23:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=91869"},"modified":"2023-04-14T18:39:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T23:39:42","slug":"91869","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=91869","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Missouri House advances bill allowing guns on buses, inside churches and synagogues<\/a><\/p>\n

Missourians would be allowed to carry guns on public buses and inside churches and other places of worship under a bill advanced by the Missouri House Thursday.<\/p>\n

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schnelting, a St. Charles Republican, would allow people with concealed carry permits to carry guns on public transit in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have the potential of running into situations where we have to utilize self defense to protect ourselves and those we love,\u201d Schnelting said on the floor Thursday. \u201cThis legislation will discourage criminal activity on our public transportation systems, but most importantly, it will ensure that we maintain our constitutional right to self defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

An amendment successfully added by state Rep. Ben Baker, a Neosho Republican, would also strike down the current rule banning concealed guns in places of worship without the permission of the religious leader of the congregation.<\/p>\n

The Missouri House gave the bill initial approval on a voice vote Thursday. It will need one more vote before it heads to the Missouri Senate, which could come next week.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Democrats on Thursday criticized the legislation, saying it would broaden Missouri\u2019s already loose gun laws as the state sees high rates of gun violence in the state\u2019s urban areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of world are we creating with these kinds of laws? It\u2019s absolute insanity, and it\u2019s morally corrupt,\u201d state Rep. Barbara Phifer, a St. Louis Democrat, said on the floor Thursday, referring to the amendment that allowed guns in churches.<\/p>\n

The legislation comes amid instances of gun violence on Kansas City buses in recent years. In 2021, three people, including a police officer and a bus driver, were wounded in a shooting on a RideKC bus by a suspect in an alleged robbery. In 2017, another man was shot on a RideKC bus in downtown Kansas City after an altercation.<\/p>\n

Kansas City saw its second-deadliest year in history in 2022 with 171 killings, marking the third year in a row with high reports of violence.<\/p>\n

More than 150 people submitted testimony in favor of the bill when it was in the House Emerging Issues Committee earlier this month. Most supporters cited the need to protect themselves from potential criminals on buses.<\/p>\n

Representatives and lobbyists from organizations and transit associations in the major cities in Missouri \u2013 Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield and Jefferson City \u2013 all testified against the bill.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Harris Dault, a St. Louis Mennonite pastor, told The Star Thursday she was disappointed that Republicans were trying to allow guns in churches while ignoring calls to enact gun regulations. Mennonites are historically peaceful and her congregation would not believe in bringing guns for personal protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that someone could legally bring a gun into our worship space, I don\u2019t even want to think about it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s so foreign to who we are. It would be basically an attack on our religious liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill does include a provision that would still allow places of worship to prohibit firearms if they post signage that they\u2019re not allowed on the property.<\/p>\n

William Bland, a member of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance, previously wrote to Missouri lawmakers in favor of the bill, saying that current law prevents Missourians from exercising their constitutional right to carry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is especially dangerous late at night. CCW permit holders are not the problem. They have been photographed, fingerprinted, investigated, and vetted. They have to demonstrate competency with a firearm,\u201d he wrote. Bland did not return a call for comment Thursday.<\/p>\n

Kimberly Cella, the executive director of the Missouri Public Transit Association, told The Star that allowing guns on public transit would seriously jeopardize federal funding.<\/p>\n

Cella said transit providers like OATS Transit and SMTS, Inc., which are both non-profit transit providers for most rural areas of the state, would likely face issues with gathering funding.<\/p>\n

Those providers, Cella said, have private contracts and receive federal funding, and there are requirements in those contracts that prohibit guns on transit. The bill would jeopardize those contracts and the matched federal funding, Cella said.<\/p>\n

Both St. Louis and Kansas City\u2019s transit systems are bi-state operations governed by a federal compact that prohibits guns on public transit, and Cella said it is her understanding that that compact would supersede the bill and not apply to transit in those cities.<\/p>\n

Cella said there is no proof that more guns make transit safer, and she said it puts staff members like bus drivers in more danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re saying is if we impair the ability of transit providers to deliver service by passage of CCW in transit, we\u2019re really going to impact the state\u2019s bottom line as well,\u201d Cella said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Missouri House advances bill allowing guns on buses, inside churches and synagogues Missourians would be allowed to carry guns on public buses and inside churches and other places of worship under a bill advanced by the Missouri House Thursday. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schnelting, a St. Charles Republican, would allow people with concealed … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91870,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91869\/revisions\/91870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}