Missouri lawmakers vow to go after carjackers, but not guns

ST. LOUIS -- Republican legislators and Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Tuesday laid out legislative priorities for 2020 aimed at fighting violent urban crime, but they made it clear those priorities don't include stricter gun laws.

Legislative leaders said they'll push for strengthening Missouri's carjacking statute and removing the requirement forcing St. Louis police officers to live in the city in hopes of boosting officer recruitment and retention.

But many Democrats in the Legislature as well as St. Louis leaders have called for specific measures to address gun violence, such as allowing the city to adopt its own gun laws that are tougher than the state's, or requiring a permit to carry a gun, at least in the city.

Senate Pro Tem Dave Schatz indicated new gun restrictions are off the table in the Republican-controlled Legislature convening in January.

"When we talk about guns and taking guns out of law-abiding citizens' hands, that was never a topic of discussion that we were willing to address," Schatz said.

St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield all have seen spikes in gun crimes and homicides in recent years. More than a dozen children have been killed in gun violence in St. Louis this year.

St. Louis police chief John Hayden spoke at the news conference and expressed support for the carjacking proposal and the end to the police residency requirement. But he also cited a need for a law requiring a gun permit. Missouri law requires no such permit.

"If people were required to have a permit to carry a gun, I wouldn't see people on East Grand and Broadway talking on a phone with an AK-47," Hayden said. "A permit is needed."

St. Louis had more than 350 carjackings in 2018 and is on pace to equal that number this year. Schmitt said the state lacks a specific carjacking statute, so prosecutors charge suspects with various crimes such as robbery or stealing. He said he supports creation of a new charge, motor vehicle hijacking, which would directly address the crime.

Hayden said carjackings are traumatizing to victims and create inconveniences, but he said they rarely lead to homicides or shootings.

Democratic Sen. Jamilah Nasheed of St. Louis questioned why her Republican colleagues are sidestepping the issue of gun violence that has led to all three Missouri cities often being cited as among the most dangerous in the nation.

"We don't want to infringe on anyone's Second Amendment rights but what outstate legislators must understand is that while they use guns to hunt animals and deer, we have young black men and women being hunted by guns in the City of St. Louis," Nasheed said.

For nearly 50 years, St. Louis police officers have been required to live within the city limits. Schmitt said the residency requirement hinders recruitment and retention of officers. The city currently has more than 125 officer vacancies, and the shortage makes crime-fighting more difficult.

"Removing the residency requirement opens the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to a larger and more diverse pool of applicants who don't necessarily live in the City of St. Louis," Schmitt said.