MO: Override of Missouri Veto of Gun Reform Bill seems Likely

On May 13, 2016, the Missouri legislature passed an omnibus gun legislation reform bill, SB 656.  It was the last day of the session.  While widely heralded as a permitless or “Constitutional” carry bill, there were several other notable features.  From the NRA-ILA:

Governor Nixon vetoed SB 656 on June 27, on the last day that it was expected for him to do so.  The chances for a veto override are very good.  Two years ago, another omnibus firearms law reform bill was also vetoed.  It was numbered SB 656.  The legislature overrode that veto on September 11th 2014.

The near certain Democrat candidate for the governorship has recognized that reality.  He says that he would have signed SB 656, and that it is a good reform bill. From kansascity.com:

Missouri Democrats face an uphill fight to sustain Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill eliminating training requirements to carry a concealed firearm.

Same goes for another bill Nixon vetoed that would require voters to provide a government-issued photo ID before being allowed to cast a ballot.

Complicating their efforts is the fact that their all-but-certain nominee for governor supports both bills.

Attorney General Chris Koster, who faces only token opposition in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary to replace term-limited Nixon, said he saw no reason to veto the wide-ranging gun bill.

Chris Koster, running as a pro-Second Amendment, pro-union Democrat, may have a chance against the eventual Republican opponent.  It is an uphill battle in this “outsider” election.

November will tell us.  I have said that if the Democrats would truly embrace the Second Amendment, they would win many more elections.  People who are passionate about protecting the rights of an armed population outnumber those who wish the population disarmed many times over.  50 years ago, serious support for the Second Amendment was a popular Democrat position.  If the Democrats lose this November, it may become popular with them again.

Missouri will join 10 other states that have restored permitless carry, if the legislature overrides the veto.  That will be the largest number of permitless or “Constitutional” carry states since the 1920s.  From 1900 through 1930, there was a wave of trendy bans on the concealed carry of weapons, coinciding with a massive influx of immigrants, the end of the frontier, growing urbanization, and the rise of the “progressive” movement coupled with a reinvigorated KKK and prohibition. Vermont was the only state to survive the wave, when its supreme court held that a permit to carry a concealed weapon was unconstitutional. That wave followed an earlier spate of laws against concealed carry in the former slave states after the Civil War.

 Idaho, Mississippi and West Virginia that have passed similar legislation in 2016. The other “Constitutional” carry states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Maine, Vermont, and Wyoming.

 ©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch