The Missouri House of Representatives will not take up two bills this session that aimed to expand firearm access.
Both pieces of legislation had passed in committee and were on the calendar for debate on the House floor.
One of the bills would have allowed concealed carry permit holders to bring firearms onto public transportation, including buses, as well as inside places of worship. The other would have exempted firearms and ammunition from both state and local sales taxes.
House Majority Floor Leader Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, said that while he believes both bills were worthy of debate, “they have no path to becoming law at this point.”
“Now is not the appropriate time to be taking up those bills and therefore they will not be brought up this session,” Patterson said.
The decision from Patterson, who is responsible for bringing up bills for debate on the House floor, follows a deadly shooting Wednesday in Kansas City.
The shooting occurred at the celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory, killing one person and leaving more than 20 people injured.
Patterson said he spoke with the sponsors of both bills and “had productive conversations about what was in the best interest of our body as a whole, including many members who were at the shooting.”
Rep. Adam Schnelting, R-St. Charles, said he disagreed with the decision to “prematurely” end debate on the proposals.
“The legislation I have put forward is nothing more than an avenue by which law-abiding [carrying a concealed weapon] holders can protect themselves and their families,” Schnelting said.
He also said that “no new gun restrictions would have prevented the tragic event in Kansas City, as the suspects were already in violation of current firearms law.”
Rep. Emily Weber, D-Kansas City, said she’s glad the House would not pass the bills this session, but she doesn’t want them to come up in future sessions either.
“What are we going to do in the future? What's going to be next session and the session after that? Because we've all heard these bills multiple times now,” Weber said. “And we will continue to still hear these bills.”
Weber said the legislature should instead take up gun control bills.
“I would really love for them to sit down with us and have conversations about the common sense gun laws that we've been trying to file and push and get hearings,” she said.
Last year, the House had a lengthy debate over an amendment that would have barred unsupervised minors from possessing firearms on public property. That amendment ultimately failed.
Jackson County’s Office of the Juvenile Officer has charged two juveniles in connection with the shooting with gun counts and resisting arrest.
Weber said she thinks the amendment the House failed to pass last session could have helped.
“If we had some sort of law in place that would not allow minors to purchase firearms, I think that could have been prevented,” Weber said.
Patterson said as legislators, they “should of course look at public policies that allowed the shooting to happen,” and that “includes guns.”
“We should also look at what policies contributed to two teenagers taking guns to a parade and ruining their lives, while harming and killing others in broad daylight,” Patterson said. “I think if we did that, we’d see this is a much bigger problem than just gun laws.”
House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, released a statement Friday on the shooting saying “the turn of events in Kansas City this week were horrific and tragic, and we grieve the loss of life and offer our thoughts and prayers to those who have suffered and lost their lives.”
The statement also said Plocher would “withhold any greater comments until more details emerge.”
Plocher’s statement comes one day after he ended a press conference when reporters repeatedly asked him questions about the shooting and on gun control.
In the Missouri Senate, there is also a bill filed that would allow concealed carry permit holders to bring firearms onto public transportation. That legislation has not yet had a hearing.
