Dueling initiative petitions ask Missouri voters to decide on gun laws

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two proposed constitutional amendments have been submitted to Missouri's Secretary of State's Office for certification with opposite goals: one that would allow local governments to enact gun ordinances and one that restricts gun laws to only those passed by the Missouri General Assembly.

Both petitions need to be certified before collecting signatures. If certified in time, the petitions would appear on the November 2024 ballot, with the presidential and gubernatorial election. Initiative petitions have to pass with 50% or more of the popular vote in Missouri to be enacted.

An initiative petition filed by the group Sensible Missouri would allow local governments, such as counties or cities, to enact gun regulations. Jimmie Edwards with Sensible Missouri said the group doesn't want to repeal any Second Amendment rights but allow local jurisdictions to decide what's best for them.

"We recognize that urban areas, rural areas and college towns, if you will, are all different and may require a different response to how guns are handled," Edwards said. "We're not even suggesting what you should do. We're not suggesting that a locality should implement a red flag law or should implement a sensitive ban law for any area in their respective jurisdictions."

Missouri is already known for lenient gun regulations, such as the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which sought to nullify federal gun laws and was struck down by a federal judge.

Paul Berry III filed the initiative petition to protect Missouri gun laws passed by the General Assembly. If passed, Berry's proposed amendment would overrule gun regulations passed by local governments, such as one in St. Louis that requires a license to openly carry a gun.

“All Missouri constitutional rights should apply equally to all free Missourians, regardless of your zip code, county or municipality,” Berry said. "It’s high time for our elected officials in the St. Louis region to quit adopting public policy championed by progressive organizations who have destroyed several urban areas to crime, homelessness, poverty, and most tragic of all, hopelessness and lack of pursuit of the American dream.”