Missouri Democrats call for legislature to address gun violence, say GOP has 'surrendered'

Democrats in the Missouri House of Representatives called Thursday for the Republican governor and next Speaker of the House to prioritize legislation reducing gun violence immediately next year and criticized the majority party for declining to act on the matter.

In a letter to Gov. Mike Parson and Rep. Dean Plocher, six Democrats, including House Minority Leader Crystal Quade of Springfield, asked them to "make narrowly tailored legislation to better protect Missourians from gun violence while respecting Second Amendment rights guaranteed under the Constitution a top priority" in January, when the legislature convenes for its annual session.

Their request comes the week after a gunman killed two people and injured several others at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis, and just hours before Hillcrest High School in Springfield was locked down and later cleared after an anonymous call reported an active shooter threat.

More:Springfield police say 'no indication of a shooter' at Hillcrest High following 911 call

"This incident demands a legislative response and is worthy of a special legislative session," Quade wrote. "However, we know from experience one won't be called. Although this administration and the current legislative majority like to campaign against violent crime, action to address the problem has never followed."

Republicans in the legislature should move quickly, they wrote — before February, a month into the nearly five-month session — to pass bills requiring universal background checks, establish "extreme risk protection orders" (commonly referred to as "red flag laws") and repealing a controversial 2021 state law that nullifies some federal gun statutes. These proposals, they argue, could have prevented the St. Louis shooting, in which the shooter previously had a gun removed from his home.

"To put it bluntly, Missouri Republicans have surrendered on this issue by pretending mass shootings are an inevitability the legislature cannot possibly prevent," Quade wrote. "While we will never eliminate gun violence entirely, we can mitigate it by establishing safeguards and protections that recognize the unique power of firearms and the danger they pose in unstable hands. But because Missouri Republicans fail to respect that power, more people will die needless deaths because politicians have decided not to prioritize their safety."

Republicans, who hold supermajorities in both the House and Senate and are unlikely to lose either in the coming midterm election, have been resistant to strengthening restrictions on guns in Missouri, passing a series of statutes over the last decade that have made the Show-Me State's laws among the most lenient in the country.

For subscribers:Gun laws in Missouri are among the loosest in the country. That's unlikely to change soon.

The day after the St. Louis school shooting, Parson called for more resources for mental health services in the state, saying gun laws were not the answer.

"It's just really unfortunate that everyone wants to go to the political point of the guns when you have a tragedy like this," he told reporters in St. Louis. "Bad people doing bad things are going to find ways to do those things. You can make all the guns illegal that you want, but the bottom line is someone is going to go get one, and they're not law-abiding citizens anyhow."

The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter Thursday.

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Democrats call for Missouri gun legislation in wake of school shooting