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Mo. House Republicans To 'Fast-Track' Anti-Copying Legislation

Marshall Griffin/St. Louis Public Radio

Republican leaders in the Missouri House are promising to fast track legislation that would forbid the state from scanning and storing documents of residents who apply for conceal-carry endorsements.

Some GOP lawmakers have accused the state agency of forwarding copies of conceal-carry applications and other documents to the federal Homeland Security department.  House Speaker Tim Jones (R, Eureka) says he’s disturbed by the allegations.

“I’d like to know where Attorney General Chris Koster (D) is on this," Jones told reporters today.  "I’d like to hear a statement from him as to whether he thinks that legally any of these departments have overstepped their bounds -- I think there’s a lot more to be looked into here, and we’re just at the very beginning steps of the process.”

The controversy began Monday when a lawsuit was filed in Stoddard County by a man who says he was told he had to allow his documents to be digitally scanned in order to receive a conceal-carry endorsement.  Meanwhile, John Mollenkamp with the Missouri Department of Revenue told a House committee today that to his understanding no one’s information is being sent to Washington DC.

Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter:  @MarshallGReport

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Marshal was a political reporter for St. Louis Public Radio until 2018.