NRA BACKS STATE'S COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BILL

The National Rifle Association has come under fire from some state lawmakers over its support of a collective bargaining bill.

Two Southeast Missouri lawmakers -- Reps. David Schwab, R-Jackson, and Patrick Naeger, R-Perryville -- voiced unhappiness Friday with the NRA's decision to back the bill.

Schwab and Naeger said they and fellow Republican lawmakers in Southeast Missouri oppose the collective bargaining bill.

Two Democratic lawmakers from Southeast Missouri - Reps. Marilyn Williams of Dudley and Phillip Britt of Kennett -- also have opposed the bill, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce said.

The NRA's move has angered some lawmakers.

State Rep. Chuck Purgason, a Republican from Howell County in southern Missouri, said he plans to cancel his membership in the NRA.

In a letter this week to the NRA, Purgason -- who owns firearms and hunts -- said he would encourage others to drop their memberships in the organization.

The NRA's support for the House bill that would legalize collective bargaining for public employees comes at a time when the organization is putting its political muscle into efforts to win voter approval in Missouri of a concealed-weapons measure.

Passage of the measure on the April 6 ballot would allow the general public to carry concealed weapons.

Naeger said the NRA's decision to back the bill to unionize public employees is a calculated move to please police officers who have supported Proposition B, the concealed-weapons measure.

"It is a very political move," said Naeger.

Schwab said many NRA supporters don't agree with the decision by the organization's leadership to support collective bargaining.

Schwab said proponents of House Bill 166, the collective bargaining bill, circulated a letter from James Baker, executive director of the National Rifle Association and its Institute for Legislative Action.

In the Feb. 24 letter to the St. Louis Police Officers Association, Baker wrote that Missouri law enforcement officers would benefit from passage of the collective bargaining bill.

The bill, however, wouldn't extend bargaining rights to the Missouri Highway Patrol or supervisory personnel in state and local government.

Baker wrote, "The NRA understands how important it is for public employees and most significantly police officers to organize and present their collective needs.

"It is of the utmost importance that police and peace officers be assured the ability to work with only the very best tools and amid the best working conditions as they labor to provide for the security and safety of every Missouri citizen."

Baker said HB 166 is a "sound public safety measure."

Like the NRA, Purgason supports the concealed-weapons measure. He is organizing a rally on March 19 in support of the issue.

But in his letter to Baker, Purgason said he would encourage his constituents at the rally to drop their memberships in the NRA.

"I will encourage them to join organizations more concerned with gun issues rather than one catering to union pressure tactics," the lawmaker wrote.

Purgason said the "conceal and carry" issue wouldn't be on the ballot if it weren't for strong Republican support in the Legislature.

"I suggest you find out who your friends are because you are losing some good ones quite quickly," Purgason said.

But NRA board member David C. Jones, a retired St. Louis police officer, said the gun-rights organization historically has supported efforts that benefit police officers.

In turn, police support is crucial in the effort to pass the concealed-weapons ballot issue, Jones said.

Jones, who lives in the St. Louis suburb of Ellisville, said Friday afternoon that he hadn't seen the letter from Baker. He said he and another board member from Missouri weren't told in advance of the NRA's decision to back the collective bargaining bill.

"It is something I feel like we should have known about," he said.

But Jones, who has a son who works for the St. Louis Police Department, said he personally favors collective bargaining for law enforcement officers.

"I would like to see police officers in every town in America benefit from collective bargaining," he said.