JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s GOP-led House on Wednesday (March 9) passed a bill that would allow guns in churches and on public transportation. The House voted 101-40 in favor of the measure, which now goes before the Republican-led Senate for approval.
Currently, people need permission from religious leaders to bring firearms into churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of religious worship in Missouri. The pending bill would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring guns into worship sites without permission.
Word&Way President Brian Kaylor (center back) joined Christian and Jewish clergy and civil rights activists in testifying against two bills pushing guns in houses of worship during a Missouri House General Laws Committee hearing on Feb. 23, 2022.
Word&Way President Brian Kaylor joined other faith leaders last month to testify against changing the law to push guns in houses of worship.
The measure also would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring firearms on buses and other public transportation. Guns would still be banned on Amtrak trains. Yet another part of the bill would allow 18-year-olds to get concealed carry permits, which currently are only available to people at least 19 years old or 18-year-olds in the military.
The bill also would make it a misdemeanor crime to fire a gun in city limits, with a number of exceptions.
