A matter of law

It was no surprise that Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer of St. Louis decided that Missouri's new concealed-carry weapon law doesn't pass muster with the Missouri Constitution.

In a prime example of venue shopping -- the practice of looking for a sympathetic judge who will rule the way you want him to -- opponents of the new law turned to Ohmer, whose circuit is in one of the state's major urban areas where a majority of voters opposed a statewide concealed-carry initiative in 1999.

The basis for Judge Ohmer's decision, however, is faulty. If the Missouri Supreme Court follows the prudent reasoning of some of the state's top legal minds, the decision will be easy and the new law will take effect.

The new law, adopted by the Missouri Legislature this year, is a stringent one -- one of the most restrictive laws among the many states that already allow their residents to carry concealed weapons. The new Missouri law is much more restrictive than the ones voters turned down by a narrow margin in 1999.

Ohmer cited this part of the Missouri Constitution: "That the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned; but this shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons."

What many legal experts -- including those like our own Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, Morley Swingle, who opposed the concealed-carry law -- see in this part of the constitution is the right of lawmakers to make decisions in an area where a right is not constitutionally guaranteed.

The right to possess arms and use them in certain circumstances is clear and cannot be changed by lawmakers. But the right of a private person to conceal a weapon, the constitution says, is up to lawmakers, who for more than a century have said no. With this year's session, the lawmakers changed their minds and voted to allow concealed weapons -- as provided in the Missouri Constitution.

This legal hair-splitting should focus on what the law says and what the constitution allows rather than be subject to the interpretation of a judge who would have all of us believe the constitution contains an outright ban on concealed weapons. Police officers, by law, are given the power to conceal weapons. Now the legislature has extended that privilege, in certain circumstances, to private individuals.

Let's hope the Supreme Court judges act swiftly to put this matter to rest and give Missourians the right to carry weapons granted to them by lawmakers.