Constitutional carry is officially legal in the state of Missouri, as a new law permitting legal gun owners to carry concealed firearms has gone into effect with the start of the new year.
The bill that was enacted into law, Senate Bill 656, allows individuals to carry hidden weapons anywhere they can carry weapons openly. Missouri joins 10 other states that allow concealed carry.
The bill’s sponsor, former Missouri Representative Eric Burlison, said that an American’s Second Amendment right to carry a firearm applies both in and outside of your pocket. “The same right you have to carry on the outside of your jacket or pocket, we want to extend that right to be able to carry on the inside of your jacket or pocket,” said Burlison, according to KY3.
Additionally, the new law creates a “stand your ground” right, which allows people to remain in any place they have a legal right to be in and defend themselves with their firearm if there is danger present. It also extends the “castle doctrine”— the right of a homeowner to use deadly force if confronted with a threat in their home — to invited guests, such as a babysitter.
The bill became law after a contentious legislative battle in 2016, in which state senate Republicans used an arcane parliamentary procedure to overturn Democratic Governor Jay Nixon’s veto. The state’s Republican majority has previously used the tactic, known as “calling the previous question,” to overcome Democratic filibusters and force votes on bills.
If only congressional Republicans had that same resolve in advancing their agenda under President Obama. However, there is a great opportunity to defend the Second Amendment under the administration of President-elect Trump.
“The Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right that belongs to all law-abiding Americans,” reads President-elect Trump’s official policy position on the right to bear arms. “The Constitution doesn’t create that right — it ensures that the government can’t take it away. Our Founding Fathers knew, and our Supreme Court has upheld, that the Second Amendment’s purpose is to guarantee our right to defend ourselves and our families. This is about self-defense, plain and simple.”
The president-elect’s strong vocal support for the Second Amendment can be translated into national policy with the passage of national concealed carry reciprocity. Such a law would permit a Missouri resident who can legally carry a firearm in his state to carry his weapon legally in any state in the country.
Trump is in favor of such legislation, declaring: “A driver’s license works in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every state. If we can do that for driving – which is a privilege, not a right – then surely we can do that for concealed carry, which is a right, not a privilege.”
With Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, will national concealed carry reciprocity become law?
Time will tell. And conservatives will exert pressure on Republicans in Congress to advance a conservative agenda. (For more from the author of “Missouri Gun Owners Won Constitutional Carry. It’s Time to Take This Show NATIONAL” please click HERE)
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