Republican wants gun ban for 'violent' felons only

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Republican lawmaker wants to tweak Missouri's gun laws to keep firearms out of the hands of certain felons after a St. Louis judge's ruling that jeopardizes the state's current ban on felons possessing guns.

Rep. Kevin Austin is sponsoring a measure to address what supporters say are unintended consequences of Amendment 5, a voter-approved enhancement of gun-rights provisions to the Missouri Constitution that passed in August.

The new wording would allow the state to restrict "violent felons" from carrying guns. But because the state ban applies to all felons, a St. Louis judge said in a ruling the current law was unconstitutional.

St. Louis City Circuit Court Judge Robert Dierker dismissed gun charges against a felon because he said the law was too broad and fails to distinguish between violent and nonviolent felons.

Austin's bill defines "violent felony," which could ensure at least some people remain subject to the gun ban.

"If we do have constitutional problems with this statute ... we want to move fast to bring it back under the constitutional umbrella," said Austin, R-Springfield.

The bill categorizes a wide variety of crimes as violent felonies, including murder, rape, kidnapping and first-degree arson, assault and robbery. Austin said the list still may be revised by lawmakers.

The measure would apply the gun ban only to those convicted of these violent felonies, exempting individuals convicted of other felonies such as drug possession, fraud and lesser assault charges.

Sen. Kurt Schaefer, a Republican from Columbia who sponsored the measure that sent Amendment 5 to the ballot, said he didn't plan to try to revise Missouri's current felon-firearms ban and suggested the courts could handle it.

"The courts define terms all the time," said Schaefer, who his seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general.

Prosecutors criticized lawmakers for ignoring their warnings about the potential effects of the amendment and have said the Legislature should act to ensure that firearms remain out of the hands of dangerous felons.

"Everyone should agree that more guns in the hands of more criminals will only equal more violence," Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a statement following Dierker's ruling.

St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce's office has asked the state's Supreme Court to block Dierker's dismissal of the felony gun possession case. Lauren Trager, a spokeswoman for Joyce's office, said Austin's proposal was being reviewed.

Joyce said shortly after the judge's ruling that the ban on felons possessing guns is an important way to disarm criminals.

"We have a tremendous amount of gun violence in St. Louis and the felon in possession charge is a tool we use to keep people safe," she said.

Patrick Kutz, the defense attorney in the gun case that Dierker dismissed, said he filed the dismissal motion because it's his responsibility.

"Our stance is that it's our obligation to file a motion whenever we think our clients are charged with something that violates their constitutional rights," he said.

The Missouri Supreme Court is dealing with two issues arising from Amendment 5, one on the issue of felons possessing guns and one on whether the ballot language misled voters on the potential effects.