As KC combats gun violence, Democrats running for governor offer their ideas in debate

The leading Democratic candidates for Missouri governor emphasized different ideas to combat gun violence during a debate this past weekend, with House Minority Leader Crystal Quade calling for more local control over firearms – a priority of Kansas City leaders.

Quade and businessman Mike Hamra, both of Springfield, faced off in a 30-minute TV debate taped on Friday that aired Sunday night on St. Louis station KSDK. Both candidates steered clear of direct attacks on the other during the encounter, which came ahead of the Aug. 6 primary election.

Quade and Hamra both raised their hands during a yes-or-no round to indicate they support Kansas City and St. Louis controlling their police forces. The Kansas City Police Department has been under state control for most of the city’s history and while St. Louis gained local control over a decade ago, some Republicans want to reassert state authority.

But the two Democrats highlighted different proposals when asked about firearms. The responses may have special resonance in Kansas City, which broke annual homicide records in 2020 and 2023.

Quade, a social worker first elected to the House in 2016, said law enforcement officials often speak about the ability of juveniles to access guns. She said that’s what she hears most often about that issue in addition to pay and training for police.

“I am a huge proponent for local control around these conversations,” Quade said. “I grew up in rural southwest Missouri. I understand when a teenager sometimes needs to have access to a gun to protect their livestock. That is very different than having a kid walking down the street having a firearm in a big city.”

Hamra, who leads a company operating numerous Wendy’s locations and other restaurants, said a majority of Missourians, including gun owners, support stronger background checks and red flag laws, which allow a judge to order individuals to temporarily surrender their firearms if they’re found to be a danger to themselves or others.

Nearly 60% of Republican, Democratic and independent voters in Missouri support criminal background checks, mental health background checks and a minimum age of 21 to purchase a gun, according to a 2023 poll by Saint Louis University and YouGov.

“Even law enforcement agents want red flag laws in the state of Missouri because they walk into situations all the time unprepared, not knowing what they’re walking into,” Hamra said. “Red flag laws would make a real difference for our law enforcement, but it would also increase the safety of people walking around on the street every day.”

More local control over firearms has long been a goal of Kansas City officials. Missouri has among the most relaxed gun laws in the nation, with lawmakers steadily chipping away at state-level restrictions.

At the same time, state law constrains the power of local officials to fight crime by severely limiting the authority of municipalities to set their own rules on firearms. Missouri lawmakers for decades have given themselves nearly exclusive power to set rules on firearms

After the Kansas City Chiefs rally shooting on Feb. 14, House Democrats introduced a state constitutional amendment that would have allowed local governments to set their own rules. The amendment didn’t advance.

Whoever Democrats nominate in August likely faces a difficult path to winning the November election. Missouri Democrats have struggled to win statewide elections in recent years and a Democrat last won the governor’s office in 2012.

On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Sen. Bill Eigel are the major candidates running for the nomination.

A February 2024 Saint Louis University-YouGov poll found that 52% of voters would choose the Republican candidate for governor if the election were held today, compared to 38% for the Democratic candidate. Eight percent said they were unsure.

Death penalty

Hamra appeared open to allowing some executions to move forward if elected, while Quade said she opposes the death penalty.

Hamra noted the death penalty is the “law of the land right now” and would look to the legislature to deal with the issue and appeared to indicate it would be challenging to repeal it.

“As governor, I will make sure we will do everything we can to look at each and every individual case that comes before my office,” Hamra said.

Quade said that she doesn’t support the death penalty.

“What I think we need to be doing is having conversations around supporting our jurors who, more often than not, do not say that folks need the death penalty and our judges are overruling that,” Quade said.

Missouri and Indiana are the only two states that allow a judge to impose capital punishment when a jury cannot make a decision.

Missouri has executed 19 people over the past 10 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. After seven years where no more than two prisoners were executed each year, the pace of killings has stepped up recently; four people were executed in 2023.

The governor has the power to offer reprieves and commute sentences. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, has allowed several controversial executions.

In April, for instance, Parson rejected a clemency request from Brian Dorsey, who murdered a couple in 2006, despite dozens of former and current corrections officers taking the unusual step of asking the governor to halt the execution. Dorsey was executed by lethal injection on April 9.

Southern border

Hamra ruled out sending Missouri National Guard soldiers to the southern border while Quade said she would work with the state’s congressional delegation.

“We absolutely know that the border is a crisis right now and is top of mind for so many folks,” said Quade. “And, of course, as governor I will work with our federal delegation to make sure we’re providing the necessary resources.”

Parson deployed Missouri National Guard soldiers earlier this year to aid Texas, which has promoted a plan dubbed “Operation Lone Star” that uses Texas state resources to combat illegal border crossings.

Missouri state lawmakers approved $8 million to continue the deployment, but Parson vetoed $6 million of that funding. Quade this year voted in favor of a large budget bill that included the additional funding for the deployment.

Hamra made clear he wouldn’t follow Parson’s lead in deploying National Guard soldiers.

“As governor, I would never send the men and women of the Missouri National Guard to protect our border,” Hamra said. “That is a federal issue and it’s up to the federal government to deal with that, not the people of the state of Missouri.”

The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed reporting