At 23 years of age, the Show Me state has had the highest age requirement for concealed carry in the nation. Legally an adult? Yep. Exercise the franchise? Check. Join the Army? Yes sir. Carry a heater? Uh, no…we really think you should really wait another five years. Until now, that is. Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat, signed a new gun rights bill into law Friday that lowers the CCW age to 21. Other significant improvements enacted by the new law include prohibiting punitive sales taxes on firearms, enabling easier long gun purchases from contiguous states and allowing Missourians to own machine guns and suppressors (as long as you comply with federal law). Not big changes in the great scheme of things. But it’s more steady progress in the almost nation-wide advance of gun rights. And who wouldn’t be happy about that?
At the state level there’s almost all good news on 2A issues. Pay no attention to NJ, CA, or IL. Where states go, their elected representatives and senators eventually follow.
I still can’t believe that there are any age laws above suffrage age these days!?
“And who wouldn’t be happy about that?”
Aah, where to begin? Bloomberg, Feinstein, MikeB, Daly, McCarthy, Brady, Magoo . . . and so on.
Another small step for a man, another giant leap for mankind.
Missouri is fairly recent to the ranks of shall issue states. A few years ago it was a class D felony to carry a concealed weapon with the exception of being on property you lawfully controlled or an almost unknown exemption for those “traveling peacefully through the state”. More often than not, the police ignored this provision. A MSHP once told me that if you had a gun you could not be traveling peacefully. End of story. And this was from one of the better patrolmen.
When they finally did pass concealed carry they did away with the travel exemption. You must have a permit to carry concealed now.
There was a royal fight getting concealed carry passed. St. Louis (much like Chicago) screamed bloody murder and kept C.C. at bay for years. A compromise was reached that screwed the 21 and 22 year old citizens. Time has passed and now the legislature has decided to treat all citizens equally. Good on them.
And I am….. E. Zach Lee-Wright
When does this new law take effect?