Change in concealed guns law gets moving in state legislature

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Senate committee endorsed a bill Thursday attempting to fix a funding flaw identified by the state Supreme Court in Missouri's new concealed guns law.

While upholding the general legality of concealed guns, the Supreme Court recently ruled the funding mechanism in the law could impose an illegal, unfunded mandate on county sheriffs responsible for administering it.

The law allows sheriffs to charge an application fee of up to $100, but the court ruled the law limits the fee to being spent only on law enforcement equipment and training -- not personnel costs or the $38 fingerprint background check due to the state highway patrol.

Legislation endorsed by the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee would allow the fee to be spent on "all reasonable and necessary costs and expenses related to accepting and processing the application."

It also would allow local sheriffs to charge more than $100 if a sheriff certifies to the attorney general's office the costs of administering the law are higher.

The 8-1 vote by the committee sends the bill to the full Senate.

The bill has been on a relatively slow pace since the Feb. 26 court ruling, partly because Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder and some other Republican legislative leaders had not made it a priority.

But Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said Thursday he would give the bill a spot on the Senate debate calendar, adding: "I think we'll probably get it moving."

Judiciary committee chairman Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit, and bill sponsor Sen. Harold Caskey, D-Butler, both said it was important for lawmakers to pass the bill quickly to avoid an outbreak of costly lawsuits against sheriffs.

The lawyers who filed the original concealed guns lawsuit already have filed a follow up lawsuit in Moniteau County, claiming the issuance of concealed gun permits there violated the unfunded mandate and tax restrictions of the so-called Hancock Amendment to the Missouri Constitution. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Monday.

Although the Senate may be picking up the pace on the concealed guns legislation, House Speaker Catherine Hanaway still expressed reluctance Thursday. Hanaway said she didn't want to spend a lot of time on the bill, only to have Democratic Gov. Bob Holden veto it.

"It's vital that the governor weighs in on this issue," said Hanaway, R-Warson Woods. "If he would tell us what is acceptable to him, that might help us craft the legislation."

The concealed guns law was enacted when lawmakers overrode Holden's veto last September. But Hanaway said she wasn't sure if there were the necessary two-thirds majorities to override a veto on the funding legislation.