Posted on 03/31/2004 8:55:23 AM PST by neverdem
JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday made final a ruling that said the state's concealed-weapons law imposed unfunded mandates on counties.
The court's action means there will be no rehearing of issues in the case as requested by opponents of the law who brought the legal challenge.
The law's opponents, as well as Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, had said the court's initial Feb. 26 ruling resulted in a confusing patchwork of enforcement across the state.
“I think we're in the same situation we were in before,” said Richard Miller, a Kansas City lawyer who represented the law's opponents in the case.
“You've got to spend money to issue (concealed-weapons) permits,” he said. “Until the legislature does something, you have to break the law to enforce it.”
Proponents of the law likewise were left unsatisfied by the court's action Tuesday.
Kevin Jamison, a Kansas City area lawyer who is president of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance, said the ruling did nothing to clear up the problem of counties taking different stands on the permits.
“My understanding is, it reaffirms the previous ruling, which is not the best of all possible results,” Jamison said.
Attention must turn to revising the law in the General Assembly so that all counties have to issue permits, Jamison said.
The court ruled Feb. 26 that the law imposed an unfunded mandate on counties in violation of the state's Hancock Amendment. Though the law allows sheriffs to charge up to $100 for concealed-weapons permit applications, the law says the money can be used only for training and equipment, not for the costs of fingerprinting applicants and issuing the permits.
The court said there was evidence of unfunded mandates only for Jackson, Camden, Cape Girardeau and Greene counties, and that they did not have to enforce the law.
The court said the issue would have to be decided on an individual basis in the state's 110 other counties.
Still, more than 30 counties are accepting applications for concealed-weapons permits, with a smaller number having already issued some.
Concealed-weapon opponents have sued the Moniteau County sheriff for issuing a permit.
Nixon said lawmakers needed to act quickly on a legislative fix to solve the unfunded-mandate issues.
Bills pending in the House and Senate would allow sheriffs to use the application fees for “any reasonable expenses” related to processing the applications.
Sheriffs, who will be legally responsible if the problems are not fixed, are the ones being hurt, he said.
“The Hancock labyrinth of questions and problems continue to grow,” Nixon said. “This is not a complicated fix. This is not legal brain surgery.”
The strategy by lawmakers supporting the cleanup language has been to have the legislation come through the Senate first so that it is not threatened by a filibuster in the final days of the session when even 10 minutes of unwanted debate can kill a bill.
However, the bill has had a hearing only in a Senate committee, and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder said there was no sense of urgency to move the legislation. With only seven weeks to go in the session, there are many bills to get to, he said.
“This was dumped on us at the end of February. The last day to introduce a Senate bill was the first of March,” Kinder said. “We'll see. We'll give it a shot.”
The Star's Kevin Murphy contributed to this report. To reach Tim Hoover, call 1-(573) 634-3565 or send e-mail to thoover@kcstar.com
First glance
• Missouri's high court finalizes a ruling that says the concealed-weapons law imposes an unfunded mandate on counties.
If you are not the 1st couple of people in line it can take hours to get through the process as the digital finger printing machine takes at least 7 mins per person. If you have construction/outdoor type workers in the mix it can take a LOT longer. Their finger prints are not as clear and clean because of the manual hand labor they do.
I was #20 on the 1st Monday and it took 4 hrs to make it all the way through....better than nothing.
Here's a link to the current map of the MO counties and their issuing statuses. I couldn't get the map itself to post. missouricarry.com
MO is now a SHALL ISSUE state.
Although, because of the unfunded mandate issue(Handcock Amnedment), which the MOSC left a confusing mess, some counties are still dragging their feet. There is legislation pending to clear that up.
In the mean time, state permits from PA and FL, to name two, are legal. I have my PA permit now, just waiting for the MO to come through. I live in St Charles county and our sheriff is taking applications and issuing.
Here in Southwestern Missouri, I made an appointment, courteous and professionally done. In and out in about 20 minutes.
A three to six week wait for processing the application, but it felt good to know it was being done at long last.
DAMN THOSE LIBERALS who made us wait almost 15 years. (just have to vent) :)
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