News from the front lines:
St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer today issued a preliminary injunction that delays the enforcement of Missouri's concealed-weapon law.
The law had been scheduled to take effect tomorrow.
But Ohmer delayed enforcement of his order until plaintiffs in the lawsuit that challenged the law post a $250,000 bond. They were attempting to raise the money this afternoon. The bond was requested by the state of Missouri.
Not waiting for them to post bond, Attorney General Jay Nixon immediately asked the state's Eastern District Court of Appeals to set aside the judge's order. A spokesman for Nixon said he expected that court in St. Louis to hear augments on the appeal later Friday night, and vowed Nixon would appeal Ohmer's order to the state Supreme Court if necessary.
Ohmer based his injunction on constitutional grounds raised by the plaintiffs. He ruled the law warranted further review by the Missouri Supreme Court and would have caused irreparable harm had it taken effect Saturday.
The judge cited comments from debate at Missouri's constitutional convention of 1875 that carrying concealed weapons is "a practice which cannot be too severely condemned" and is connected to "incalculable evil."
Burton Newman and Richard Miller, attorneys for plaintiffs seeking to stop the concealed weapons law, had argued the law is unconstitutional because it violates clauses dating back to the 1875 Missouri Constitution.
They cited a section of the Bill of Rights from the 1945 Missouri Constitution declaring the right to bear arms "shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons" and a similar clause in the 1875 version stating "nothing herein contained is intended to justify the practice of wearing concealed weapons."
Newman and Miller represented a group of public officials, members of the St. Louis Clergy Coalition and the nonprofit Institute for Peace and Justice.
Democratic Gov. Bob Holden praised the court decision. The Legislature voted on Sept. 11 to override Holden's veto of the bill, meaning it was to have taken effect automatically 30 days later.
"The conceal and carry law ... was obviously flawed in many respects," Holden said in a statement. "I believe the court took appropriation action today by preventing this ill-conceived law from taking effect."
Supporters of the law predicted they would eventually be victorious.
The judge's ruling "will be overturned, there's no question about that," said Kevin Jamison, a Kansas City attorney who is president of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance and author of a book on the history of concealed guns legislation. "The plaintiffs went judge shopping and they found what they wanted. Their petition is unbelievably frivolous. It shows a complete misunderstanding of the law."
Jamison and other legal analysts contend the constitution's language means only that there is no guaranteed right to concealed guns, implying the Legislature can either allow or disallow them. If the constitution actually banned concealed guns, then Missouri's laws allowing police to carry concealed guns also would be invalid, he said.[/quote}