Conceal-carry law poses new threat to public
schools
 Despite
the fact that the voters of Missouri defeated the “Right
to Carry” ballot referendum in April 1999, this year
the Missouri legislature passed a bill granting individuals
the right to carry concealed weapons.
Gov. Bob Holden vetoed the bill. However, his veto was overridden
in the General Assembly’s veto session. The law was
scheduled to go into effect Oct. 11, 2003. However, a challenge
to its constitutionality has delayed its effective date and
could overturn the entire legislation.
The bill made changes to an existing law (§571.030)
and created a new law (§571.094). According to the existing
law, a person commits the crime of unlawful use of a weapon
if he or she carries a firearm into a school, onto a school
bus or onto the premises of any school function. Although
this part of the law has not changed, the new law includes
the provision that anyone with a conceal-carry permit is exempted
from those prohibitions. Therefore, if an individual who has
a permit to carry a concealed weapon takes that weapon into
a school, that individual has not committed a crime.
To further confuse the issue, the new law says that a person
with a conceal-carry permit is not authorized to carry concealed
firearms into a school facility without the permission of
a school official or the district school board. However, violation
of that prohibition is not a criminal act. The punishment
for violation is denial to or removal from the premises. If
the person refuses to leave, and a peace officer is summoned,
the person may have to pay a fine of up to $100 for the first
offense. If the person violates the law a second time within
six months of the first violation, the person would pay a
fine of up to $200 and lose his or her conceal-carry permit
for one year. A third violation within one year of the first
would result in a fine of up to $500 and revocation of the
permit to carry a concealed weapon for three years.
The new law also says that possession of a firearm in a vehicle
on school property is not a crime, so long as the firearm
is not removed from the vehicle or brandished on the premises.
Therefore, a person with a conceal-carry permit is allowed
to bring a firearm onto school grounds as long as the firearm
remains in a vehicle and is not brandished.
The Safe Schools Act requires schools to have discipline
policies that provide at least a one-year suspension for students
bringing weapons to school. This statute should not be affected
by the conceal-carry law. Because a person must be at least
23 years old to obtain a conceal-carry permit, schools should
not encounter students with conceal-carry permits.
In closing, we can no longer assume that bringing a firearm
into a school is a crime. If a person has a conceal-carry
permit, bringing a firearm to school is not a crime. Although
school personnel can ask someone bringing a firearm into a
school to leave, the person may refuse and pay the maximum
punishment ($500 fine and revocation of his/her conceal-carry
permit for three years). On the other hand, if the person
brings the gun to school and leaves it in his or her vehicle,
no fine or punishment of any type will result.
Although students will not be able to acquire conceal-carry
permits and can still be suspended or expelled for bringing
weapons to school, the school can no longer be considered
a gun-free zone.
by Jacqueline Shipma
MNEA director of legal services
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