Posted on 08/23/2007 1:42:17 PM PDT by neverdem
Residents of Missouri soon will no longer need a sheriff’s permit to buy a concealable gun, although a permit still will be required to carry one.
Missouri lawmakers changed the gun law earlier this year with little of the controversy that often goes with gun legislation. The change will be effective Tuesday.
“It’s something we’ve advocated for some time,” said Kevin Jamison, a Gladstone lawyer who is president of the Missouri Sport Shooting Association, the National Rifle Association affiliate in the state. “This makes it easier for people to buy firearms. They don’t have to get permission first.”
The gun-permit law for purchases dates to 1921, Jamison said. The sheriff has up to seven days to review a permit application and conduct a criminal background check.
So far this year, Jackson County has issued 4,150 permits to acquire a handgun, said Sgt. Judy Farnsworth of the sheriff’s office. The permits generated about $60,000 in fees for the general fund, she said.
Under federal law, gun dealers already do background checks on people who buy handguns from them, so the sheriff’s review is redundant, Jamison said. In addition, going to the sheriff’s office to apply for a permit and then to pick it up is a nuisance, he said.
The sale or transfer of firearms between individuals also will no longer require a criminal background check.
“There will not be any safeguards on that, individual to individual,” Farnsworth said. “It’s always a concern, but there’s not a lot we can do about it.”
Jamison said most sales of handguns are by licensed dealers, so background checks still will have to be done. Though illegal, the transfer of guns without a permit among individuals is already common, he said.
Jamison said gun-rights groups will advise individuals to have a dealer do a computer background check on gun buyers they do not know. The dealers will charge a small fee but have access to criminal records not available to individuals, Jamison said.
Jamison said there was no testimony against the bill this year when the change was made part of a larger, 20-page firearms and self-defense bill.
As word of the new law got out, however, some people mistakenly believed that permits would no longer be needed to carry a weapon, said Deputy Ronda Montgomery, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman.
In a news release this week, Montgomery said that “it is important to note this does not affect the concealed permit law.”
A 2003 Missouri law allowed carrying of concealed weapons, with permission of the sheriff and after training, background checks and other restrictions. All of those rules still apply, Jamison said.
“Buying a handgun does not make you qualified to carry it,” he said.
ON THE WEB For the complete text of the gun purchase legislation, which combined Senate bills 41 and 62, go to www.
senate.mo.gov/07info/ pdf-bill/tat/SB62.pdf.
To reach Kevin Murphy, call (816) 234-4464 or send e-mail to kmurphy@kcstar.com
Low volume ping list
FReepmail me to be on, or off, this list.
Ping, ping, piinnngggg
(For those of you that know about Ricochet Rabbit, you'll get the reference.)
Missouri keeps going in the right direction. Now we just need to keep going.
bump
Just an FYI...As I understand it, a “shopkeeper” may carry a concealed weapon. (in Missouri)
Oh well, better late than never, and by a long shot. Neither of us live in MO now, but I'm glad for all gun owning Missourians anyway.
HOOO-DEEEE-HOOOO! AND YIPPIEEEE!!
been wait-en for this several years now.
no longer have to do my shopping out of state.
I have mixed feelings about that. I don’t have any problem at all with a shopkeeper having THE RIGHT to carry a concealed weapon. I support the 2nd Amendment. I just remember from my days in retail learning that the surest way to get shot was to pull a gun to protect the money. The money can be replaced.
Any laws where the permission of the county sheriff is required is so prone to politics that they should be discarded. It’s already an undue burden to require citizens to have a permit to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms, but this requirement for the sheriff’s personal imprimatur is ridiculous.
The dealers closest to me didn't even like to mess with handguns because of the permit to purchase hassle.
How’s the real estate market down there?
Don't think so. Missouri is listed as a Shall Issue State.
You have the option to pull the gun out if necessary. To be disarmed doesn’t give you that choice.
About time...
bump for publicity
All that? Really? I just went to sheriff’s office, Springfield. Filled out paperwork, paid $10. Came back a week later and took paper to gun dealer. Glad we don’t have to do that anymore but it was only one trip to each.
What’s a “shall issue” state? It’s my understanding, I can carry in a vehicle like carrying in my home (but must be in plain site {duh, if you want it stolen})but for concealed carry you must pay fees, qualify, another background check, etc.
It’s a degree of concealed carry license. Some states are May Issue and you have to get permission of the local authorities to get a carry permit. California is a May Issue. That means if you are famous, wealthy or politically connected, you can get a conceal permit.
Other states are Shall Issue. The law is written so the vast majority can pay the fees, take the courses and the local authorities have to, by law, issue the permit.
I count 2 trips to each place in your reply! :o)
If that doesn't do it, get a shot of "would be criminals who fear for their lives or die learning the lesson."
If the mixed feeling remain, I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you... it's terminal.
As I tell my liberal sister to really get under her skin, in my Utopia it would be illegal not to carry a gun and not to defend yourself. There would be high casualties at the start but the criminals (and pacifists) would get pared out eventually. Sometimes she looks at me as though I just might be serious.
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