PUSH ON FOR CONCEALED GUNS VOTE

Some Missouri lawmakers want to let voters decide if the state should join 42 other states that allow their residents to carry concealed weapons.

The lawmakers want a broader concealed weapons bill than the one the Senate passed and they want the issue to be decided by the voters.

The Senate on April 17 passed state Sen. Peter Kinder's concealed weapons bill by a 27-4 vote. Kinder's bill would allow retired police officers, judges and prosecutors to carry concealed weapons.

Kinder's bill will be considered this week by the House corrections committee. Rep. Wayne Crump, D-Potosi, chairs the committee.

Crump said he would push for passage of a broader bill that would allow the general public to carry concealed weapons. Thirty-one states have such liberal, right-to-carry laws.

Like other states, Missouri would require background checks and handgun training before granting right-to-carry permits.

Vermont allows its residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

"Vermont is the only state that allows basically anyone to carry whether they know how to use it or not," said Chris Cox, a lobbyist with the National Rifle Association in Washington.

Crump and some other Missouri lawmakers want to submit the concealed weapons issue to voters. They want to bypass the traditional legislative route because Gov. Mel Carnahan opposes allowing Missourians to carry hidden guns.

"The only possibility it has is to send it to a vote of the people because the governor will not sign it," Crump said.

Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, favors Crump's approach. "If it is the only chance of getting it done, why wouldn't you do it?

"I don't care about politics. I want to see it happen," said Thomason.

Both he and Crump believe Missouri voters would pass a concealed weapons measure.

But Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, opposes efforts to broaden the measure this legislative session and send it to the voters.

Kinder said his opposition is purely tactical. Philosophically, he supports giving the general public the right to carry concealed guns and has introduced such legislation each year for the past three years.

But if the House passes a broader bill, the issue will be dead this year because the Senate won't approve such a measure this session, Kinder predicted.

"We are not going to get the floor time to consider that bill in the final three weeks of the session," Kinder said.

Majority Floor Leader Ed Quick, D-Liberty, is the "traffic cop" in the Senate. The floor leader controls the pace, timing and selection of bills that go before the full Senate, Kinder said.

He said Quick won't move a broader-based, concealed guns bill through the Senate this session.

Kinder said it makes more sense for the House to pass his bill and send it to the governor. Kinder hopes that Carnahan would support the measure since it would allow people to pack guns in only limited cases.

This could build momentum for a more liberal law in the future, he said.

He said it would take a lot of time and money to campaign for passage of a concealed weapons measure.

The National Rifle Association concedes enacting a concealed guns law is tough in Missouri because of the governor's opposition. But the NRA doesn't want to put the issue before the voters.

State lawmakers say that is because the NRA doesn't want to spend the money that would be needed to campaign for passage of such a measure.

"No other state has voted on it," said Kinder, who views the suggestion of a referendum as just a dodge.

Kinder hopes the House passes his version of the bill. He said an all-or-nothing approach would spell defeat this year.

Kinder has introduced broader right-to-carry bills in the past and said he would do so again in future sessions. He compared his tactics to that of sailors on a ship.

"It may well take some tactical zigs and zags to get there, but rest assured, even if it takes the election of a new governor, we will get there," he said.

Some Democratic lawmakers argue that those who oppose putting the issue before the voters simply want to embarrass the governor for future political gain.

Ironically, the NRA opposes Kinder's limited, concealed weapons bill. Kinder said the NRA wants all or nothing when it comes to such laws.

He said the NRA's position is counter productive to efforts to pass such a law in Missouri.