New driver's licenses readied for concealed gun permit holders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Driver's licenses are no longer just for height, weight, hair color, eye color and birthday.

Under the state's new law legalizing concealed guns, Missourians licensed to conceal and carry must get a new driver's license that will announce a person's concealed-gun permit in bright red type, the Department of Revenue said Monday.

The concealed-carry notification will be in the license's upper-right corner -- the same location that also announces whether a person is younger than 21.

Anyone issued a concealed-gun permit after July 1 will have seven days to apply for a new driver's license. People who already have their gun permits should go to a Department of Revenue office to get a new driver's license.

People authorized to carry concealed guns also can have that noted on a state-issued identification card instead of a driver's license.

More than two-thirds of Missouri counties -- 81 of 114 but not the independent city of St. Louis -- are now offering residents the ability to get a permit to carry a concealed firearm, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Most Missourians 23 and older who have not been convicted of a felony and have passed a safety training course can apply to their county sheriff for a conceal and carry permit with a $100 application fee. Before the permit is issued, however, the applicant must pass state and federal background checks.

The Legislature only legalized concealed guns last year, and the law had been delayed in court challenges until the state Supreme Court upheld it in February. However, the Supreme Court found a flaw in the law's wording that prohibits the application fee from being used to pay for the background checks.

Attorney General Jay Nixon had been recommending that sheriffs not consider applications until the Legislature passed legislation to correct the funding problem, but lawmakers adjourned their annual session Friday without acting on the issue. Nixon said Monday he is now recommending that sheriffs accept applications.

"Regardless of whether the Legislature acts or not, the Supreme Court said that conceal and carry is constitutional in Missouri," Nixon said.

Sheriffs probably should not charge the full $100 allowed by law, Nixon said. Instead, they should charge applicants based on the actual expenses of issuing the permits, he said.

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On the Net:

Department of Revenue: http://www.dor.mo.gov