I haven't updated this thread lately because there hasn't been much to report. The General Assembly has one more week before "Spring Break," when they'll take a week off. The past couple of weeks the House has been passing bills and the Senate has managed to move some non-controversial stuff. Next week they're supposed to take up the education bill so there should be some fireworks.

A couple of developments of interest to gun owners:

Senate Bill 754 passed out of the Senate and moved to the House. This is shaping up to be this year's omnibus "crime bill." If it relates to crime or sentencing, expect it to be added to this bill. This is basically a redux of last year's SB 189 which the governor vetoed, citing problems with conviction expungement provisions. Like last year's bill, SB 754 includes "Blair's Law," which makes celebratory gunfire illegal. The bill also increases penalties for armed criminal action by a prior offender. Four members of the Freedom Caucus voted against the bill (as did several Democrats). During the caucus' end-of-the-week presser, Sen. Rick Brattin said he was concerned Blair's Law might prevent people from engaging in target shooting on their own property (which he said he and his kids do). ETA: See my follow-up post for the text of Blair's Law

Senate Bill 998, Sen. Denny Hoskins' anti-red flag law bill, had a hearing in the  Public Safety Committee. The Western Missouri Shooters Alliance and one citizen testified in support. Moms Demand Action and a lobbyist for the City of St. Louis testified in opposition. ETA: See my follow-up post for links to similar anti-red flag law bills introduced this year.

Again, there's one week before spring break. Traditionally, there's a big push to get bills moving before the recess so a lot could happen next week.

As I mentioned in the post above, "Blair's Law" is included as a provision of SB754, which passed the Senate and awaits action by the House. This law passed last year but didn't take effect because the governor vetoed the bill that contained it. FWIW, the governor said his veto was about other provisions, not the Blair's Law. Here's the text of Blair's Law, as advanced by the Senate:

571.031. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as "Blair's Law".

2. A person commits the offense of unlawful discharge of a firearm if he or she recklessly discharges a firearm within or into the limits of any municipality.

3. This section shall not apply if the firearm is discharged:
(1) As allowed by a defense of justification under chapter 563;
(2) On a shooting range that is:
     (a) Indoor;
     (b) Owned or operated by the state or any political subdivision;
     (c) A commercial shooting range, including any range used by paying members; and
     (d) Supervised by any person eighteen years of age or older;
(3) To lawfully take wildlife during an open season established by the department of conservation. Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent a municipality from adopting an ordinance restricting the discharge of a firearm within one-quarter mile of an occupied structure;
(4) For the control of nuisance wildlife as permitted by the department of conservation or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
(5) By special permit of the chief of police of the municipality;
(6) As required by an animal control officer in the performance of his or her duties;
(7) Using blanks;
(8) More than one mile from any occupied structure;
(9) In self-defense or defense of another person against an imminent or ongoing animal attack unless the self-defense or defense of another person is a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation to protect oneself or the other person from such animal attack and such person shall not have a duty to retreat;
(10) In defense of a domestic animal against an imminent or ongoing animal attack, unless the defense of the domestic animal is a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation to protect a domestic animal from attack; or
(11) By law enforcement personnel, as defined in section 590.1040, or a member of the United States Armed Forces if acting in an official capacity.

4. A person who commits the offense of unlawful discharge of a firearm shall be guilty of:
(1) For a first offense, a class A misdemeanor;
(2) For a second offense, a class E felony; and
(3) For a third or subsequent offense, a class D felony.

Regarding the anti-red flag bill sponsored by Sen. Hoskins mentioned above. This is one of four similar (perhaps identical) bills introduced this year. Those are Rep. Christensen's House bill 1651, Rep. Hardwick's House Bill 2656, Hoskins' Senate Bill 998, and Eigel's Senate Bill 1004.

So far, only Hoskins' bill has received a committee hearing.

FWIW, there were also four anti-red flag law bills in 2023. The two House bills got hearings. One House bill received a "Do Pass" committee vote but no further action was taken. Neither of the Senate bills got a hearing last year.

If anyone cares, the legislature returns from spring break this week. Eight weeks remain in the regular session.

Here's a mid-session recap:

Columbia Missourian: Stall tactics and chaos: Unraveling the first half of the legislative session

ETA: and a couple of previews of the remaining eight weeks:

Missouri Independent: Budget, Medicaid funding could dominate final weeks of Missouri legislative session

STL NPR: 4 things to watch for in the second half of the 2024 Missouri legislative session

Any thoughts on the fact Rowden is stepping down and dropping his run for Secretary of State.

What make you think Rowden is "stepping down"? I know he decided not to run for secretary of state, but I hadn't heard anything beyond that. There's only eight week left in the session and he's term-limited after this year. I can't imagine him leaving before his term is up.

I would only be speculating on why he decided to forego the SOS run. I assume he either realized there's no lane for moderate Republicans these days, or he was simply tired of all the BS and didn't want to mess with it anymore.

I didn't realize he was term limited. I just saw his post on Twitter.

Yep. In Missouri, legislators are limited to four terms in the House (8 years) and two terms in the Senate (8 years). Rowden was elected to the Senate in 2016.

There is an interesting discussion going on in the legislature that may have an impact on gun rights. The short version is that a bill to expand subsidies for private schools (and home education) includes a provision that declares any home school to be a "school" under state law. The wrinkle in that is that it's a crime to possess guns in schools. There is a concern that any family who home schools their kids but also has guns in the home could run afoul of the law. It's probably more complicated than that, but that's the basics. If you're paying attention to this year's session, you may want to get up to speed on this one. Senate Bill 727

I don't know anything about this source, but here's a web site that expresses concerns about the bill and its impact on gun rights: https://www.mofirst.org/issues/education/Drafting-Error-in-SB727-Outlaws-Guns-in-Homeschools.php

Another link: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2024/04/video-pics-gun-owners-may-face-felony-for-homeschooling-report/

The Missouri Firearms Coalition has stated there's nothing to worry about, but if you know the history of that group and its founders you'll know they are solidly in the home-school camp. https://www.missourifirearmscoalition.org/state-legislation/mofcs-position-on-sb-727-and-your-gun-rights/

Also, here's a letter that addresses whether the 2A protections in Missouri's constitution are worth the paper they're written on:
https://www.mofirst.org/issues/education/Roland-on-SB727-the-Right-to-Keep-and-Bear-Arms-and-Missouri-Courts.pdf

Again, I don't know what to think and I'm not expressing an opinion. It may be a legit concern, or it may be a nothing burger. For all I know the public school people spread the guns in school theory just to turn conservatives against the bill. I just don't know, but I wanted to make people aware of what's going on.

Competition would do public schools good, and yes, in my opinion people are just trying to use fear over guns to derail Missouri school choice.

I don't see how Dorr at MFC would support a bill that would criminalize homeschooling and guns when he admits to having homeschooled 7 kids.

Need proof about the lie about the Federal enforcement that's also been circulating? Look at all the other states with expanded school choice and note the lack any issues for homeschooling involving guns.

That's a federal law though.  So unless the [home] "school" got some sort of federal subsidy, the feds wouldn't be able to call it a "school" right?  Either way, glad somebody caught that--they'll get it worked out.

Again, I don't know much about this issue or the legislation, but I am aware that some home-school advocates oppose voucher programs specifically because they believe accepting any government money exposes them to state and federal oversight. State education programs get money from the federal government so (in theory) it's possible to link money from D.C. all the way down to the kitchen table classroom once vouchers put the camel's nose under the tent.

I understand the theory behind the voucher bill fears... but pragmatically speaking... this is stupid.  Accept a homeschool voucher and suddenly your house can't have firearms?  This is an absurd red herring.  

@Bladeswitcher thanks for keeping this thread going.  It's nice to hear what's going on.

Just reading the X chatter, it sounds like opposition to the school voucher bill is growing. A couple of the home school advocacy groups are no longer neutral and are now opposing passage. That's probably not surprising given all the Democrat-sponsored amendments the Republicans had to accept in order to end the filibuster and get it passed out of the Senate.

Senate Bill 727 Summary


UPDATE: Sounds like they fixed it:
https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-amends-house-bill-to-ease-passage-of-k-12-tax-credit-expansion/

With just four weeks remaining in the regular legislative session, the General Assembly has finally sent three bills to the governor for his signature. The first bills "truly agreed and finally passed" were a pair of education bills and a supplemental appropriation to cover the cost of sending troops/cops to the U.S. border in Texas. The massive Senate education bill finally (and barely) passed includes a tweak to address concerns about keeping guns in home schools.

The deadline for passing the state budget falls one week prior to the end of session so there's only three weeks remaining to get that done. The constitution requires the legislature to pass a budget (the legislature's only constitutionally required duty), so that task will surely dominate the next couple of weeks. The Senate is supposed to begin "marking up" the House spending bills next week. There's still the matter of renewing the "FRA," which is a perennial bone of contention with hard-core conservatives. The Federal Reimbursement Allowance is a program that accounts for about $4 billion of the state budget and helps fund the Medicaid program. Hospitals and other health providers voluntarily tax themselves and this funding triggers the draw-down of more federal money (most of the $4 billion is federal money but it requires the FRA tax to make it happen). Conservatives leverage this must-pass legislation as a way to include a prohibition on funding for Planned Parenthood. Missouri doesn't spend a dime on abortion and Planned Parenthood locations in Missouri don't perform abortions, but neither fact keeps the hard-liners from holding the budget hostage to make a point. You can expect the FRA to figure prominently in discussions over the next few weeks.

Otherwise, it will be a mad dash to the end. With hundreds of bills stuck in the legislative process, the time has come for negotiations and deal-making and House and Senate members will buckle down trying to gather support for their pet bills. Expect lots of bloated omnibus bills -- the proverbial Christmas Trees, with amendments hung like ornaments on tangentially related legislation. Most of the activity will happen the final week, after the budget has passed. The clock with run down on May 17 and it will be over. One of the least (if not THE least) productive legislative sessions in Missouri history will come to an end. Oh boy . . .


ETA:

To see which bills have progressed, here's the Senate's Bill Status webpage. Also, the House Bill Status page.

Budget nerds can take a closer look at the numbers here: https://oa.mo.gov/budget-planning/budget-information

ETA2: For a glimpse of how easily these last four weeks could go off the rails, here's this week's Freedom Caucus presser: