Missouri activists demand action on gun safety at Capitol

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gun violence prevention activists gathered at the Missouri Capitol on Tuesday to call for action on gun safety. Volunteers from the Missouri chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action gathered for their annual Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Advocacy Day.

"Moms Demand Action is incredibly strong across the state of Missouri," volunteer with Moms Demand Action Tara Bennett said. "We have one of the largest state chapters."

Both groups are part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network and advocate for lawmakers to oppose any legislation that they believe would increase gun violence.

“We are here to bring to our lawmakers the need in Missouri to have common sense gun laws and to oppose a few things that are very much not common sense and dangerous,” Bennett said. “There are a lot of us who care very strongly about gun violence in both our cities and our rural communities and we want our voices heard.”

The day of action comes just one week after Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a bill to take control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and after the House passed legislation to revive the state's Second Amendment Preservation Act, which was deemed unconstitutional in 2023.

“We'll be discussing a couple of different pieces of legislation and some that were passed and found unconstitutional,” Bennett said.

Former Gov. Mike Parson signed the Second Amendment Preservation Act into law in 2021. The bill blocked state and local law officials from enforcing laws that supporters said violated Second Amendment rights. It was struck down by a federal court last year.

The Justice Department argued in a lawsuit that the Second Amendment Preservation Act “impairs law enforcement efforts in Missouri” and interferes with the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which states that federal laws take precedence over state laws.

Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action hope to let lawmakers know about their opposition to House Bill 1175, which reestablishes the Second Amendment Preservation Act.

“Asking our legislators to realize that's a defund the police bill that's dangerous for our state and also asking our legislators to pass safe storage bills and things that will make our community safer,” Bennett said. “We can't give up. We know that the law and the courts are on our side for that bill, particularly." And we know that we can make our community safer.”

State Rep. Bill Hardwick (R-Dixon) said while introducing the bill for a vote on Thursday that he does not agree with arguments against SAPA.

"If there's a federal gun registry, state police should not enforce that," Hardwick said on the floor. "If there's a federal rule about the amount of bullets that you can have in your home, the state police should not enforce that and that is an affirmation that we as a state are not compromising on the Second Amendment, and that is an affirmation that the Tenth Amendment and the separation of powers of vertical federalism means something to our state."

Advocates spent Tuesday afternoon in various meetings with Missouri legislators to discuss gun violence laws.

Volunteer with Moms Demand Action Leslie Washington said she advocates for many reasons.

"When there's a firearm involved with a domestic violence situation, it's five times more likely for that  person to die," Washington said. "And I am a survivor of domestic violence as well as gun violence."

She also advocates for her cousins who have lost their lives to guns.

“It happens in black and marginalized communities on a regular basis," Washington said. "So I just want to do my part to make sure that legislators do their part as well.”