Judge hearing arguments today on concealed guns law

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A St. Louis judge could decide whether Missouri's new concealed guns law violates the state constitution. But he first must decide whether he -- or a judge in the state's capital city -- has the proper authority to hear the case.

A lawsuit seeking to block the concealed guns law from taking effect Saturday was filed Wednesday in St. Louis Circuit Court and assigned to Judge Steven Ohmer.

Attorney General Jay Nixon immediately asked that the case be transferred to Cole County, where most lawsuits naming the state as a defendant are tried.

Ohmer began hearing arguments Wednesday but continued the case until today and made no immediate decision on the proper venue for the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims a provision of the Missouri Constitution dating to 1875 prohibits the wearing of concealed firearms.

That section of Missouri's Bill of Rights declares "that the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property ... shall not be questioned; but this shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons."

Nixon spokesman Scott Holste declined to comment about the merits of the lawsuit.

Misconstruing provision

But the state is likely to argue that plaintiffs are misconstruing that provision.

Gov. Bob Holden's chief legal counsel and other constitutional analysts have interpreted the provision to say simply that concealed guns aren't part of the right to bear arms, and the legislature -- or voters -- could decide to allow or disallow it.

"I would say that the claim being made by those who challenge the conceal carry law is relatively weak if they are going to rely upon" that 1875 constitutional provision, said Kris Kobach, a constitutional law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City who is also running for Congress as a Republican in the Kansas suburbs around Kansas City, Mo.

Yet to state Sen. Maida Coleman, one of 10 plaintiffs in the case, the language seems plain enough.

"The Missouri Constitution says that citizens should not carry concealed weapons," said Coleman, D-St. Louis, who voted against the bill.

"Maybe it doesn't keep the legislature from saying it's all right to carry concealed weapons, but I like the basic interpretation of it."

The legislature voted Sept. 11 to override Holden's veto of the concealed guns bill, meaning the law automatically would take effect 30 days after the vote.

The law allows Missourians age 23 and older who pay $100 and pass background checks and a training course to receive a permit from their county sheriff to carry concealed guns. It also allows anyone age 21 or older to conceal a gun in a vehicle without need of a permit.