Court hears weapons lawsuit
Published Jan. 23, 2004
The fate of the conceal-and-carry law now is in the hands of the Missouri Supreme Court.
Oral arguments before the court to determine whether Missouri citizens should be allowed to carry concealed weapons began Thursday. The lawsuit was filed after the General Assembly voted to override Gov. Bob Holden's veto on a law that would have allowed citizens the right to carry concealed weapons in October 2003.
The major question before the court is whether the law violates the Missouri Constitution.
In Boone County, lawmakers, police and businessmen are awaiting the court's decision.
"We're ready for any decision they hand down," Maj. O.J. Stone from the Boone County Sheriff's Department said. "We don't know when or what the Supreme Court will decide."
The sheriff's office has had everything prepared to certify those eligible to carry concealed weapons and has been on hold since the injunction, Stone said. It has an application form and a fingerprinting process ready in case the court decides the law is constitutional.
"A lot of people spent a lot of hours to get it all ready," he said. "It was kind of a mad scramble after the override of Holden's veto."
Stone said that, though he is not an expert on the constitution, he thinks the court might approve the law.
"New Mexico recently had a very similar case and the court decided it was OK. My opinion is that our court will reach a similar decision."
The Columbia City Council also is waiting for the ruling to see if it needs to pass an ordinance to prohibit concealed weapons in city buildings, Sixth Ward councilman Brian Ash said.
"We brought this up when the law first passed, but decided to table the issue until the courts made up their mind because we didn't see any reason to pass an ordinance if it was going to get overturned," he said.
If the court declares the law constitutional, Stone said he expects a rush of people trying to get licenses to carry concealed weapons similar to the rush they saw when the General Assembly overrode Holden's veto.
Target Masters, a Columbia store that sells guns and offers training classes, witnessed a rush of business after the veto. But business has declined since the injunction, Target Masters employee Garson Chen said.
"We've been pretty dead," Chen said. "The injunction has been really bad for business."
Chen said he thinks the lawsuit questioning the law's constitutionality is ridiculous.
"There's tons of laws that are passed that go against the constitution," he said. "That's why there are amendments. If they repeal this one, they will have to repeal many other laws."
Employees at Target Masters hope the law passes, Chen said.
"We have no idea what's going to happen," he said. "We're trying not to concentrate on it."