KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After passing a law six years ago allowing convicted domestic abusers to carry firearms, Missouri lawmakers have again stalled on legislation that would close the loophole.
Rep. Tracy McCreery, a Democrat who represents parts of St. Louis, was in office in 2016 when the wide-ranging, contentious gun bill was signed into law. The legislation legalizing permitless concealed carry also removed gun safety training classes and criminal background checks, which is when people were screened for past offenses.
At the time, McCreery remembers talks with lawmakers who knew the domestic violence loophole would become a deadly problem. But her colleagues said not to worry, they would be back next session to fix it.
"Now it's 2022 and we are still talking about this and people are dying," McCreery said. "Part of what makes our state stand out for homicides is because of intimate partner killings."
In 2021, 37 people were killed in domestic violence homicides and more than 4,000 aggravated domestic assaults occurred, according to data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. In Kansas City, 13 people were killed in domestic violence incidents, according to the Kansas City Police Department.
A 2019 analysis on men killing women found that 81% of female victims were killed with a gun in Missouri, according to the Violence Policy Center.
"There are fewer and fewer of us that are in the building, in elected office that were there when we were promised that the loophole would be closed," McCreery said. "At the time, we knew that there was that deadly loophole in there."
McCreery is one of a handful of bipartisan lawmakers who have sponsored legislation every year since to close the loophole.
This session, Democrat Sen. Lauren Arthur sponsored a bill that would do three things: make it a crime in Missouri for those convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor to possess or own a firearm, allow courts to require someone with a restraining order against them surrender their guns for the duration of the order and require courts to report a domestic violence conviction to the Missouri Highway Patrol, which then reports to the FBI.
Since February, her bill has remained in the Senate's General Laws Committee. With less than a month left in the session, the measure is unlikely to pass.
"This is an example of a policy that has hurt a lot of women and killed a lot of women and lawmakers can make it right," said Arthur, who represents parts of Clay County.
"But at the end of the day, we are saying to victims in Missouri that their abuser's right to own a gun is more valuable than their safety and their lives."
Rep. Ron Hicks, a Republican who represents St. Charles County, is sponsoring legislation this year to close the loophole, but the bill has not gotten far since it was first introduced. Hicks has also put forward similar bills during previous sessions, as have other Republican lawmakers. Hicks did not respond to requests for comment.
While there is bipartisan support to close the loophole, there also appears to be a lack of political will to push for a stronger effort, said Matthew Huffman, the public affairs director for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
"While we continue to debate how this needs to be fixed, women specifically but Missourians are losing their lives for a lack of action," Huffman said.
Closing the loophole would also mirror a federal law that prevents people convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor from having a gun.
While local and state law enforcement agencies can apply federal laws, creating a state law similar to the federal one allows for consistency and ensures that local police are enforcing it, Huffman said. His organization has found that jurisdictions haven't consistently applied the federal law.
"It also sends a larger message that there's investment in the state of Missouri to make sure that no one loses their life to intimate partner homicide," Huffman said. "So if we do have those protections in place, survivors have options available and there are interventions in place to try and prevent a homicide from occurring."
But enforcing the federal law has been complicated by the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA). The law, passed last year, makes it illegal for Missouri law enforcement to enforce certain federal gun laws, and among them is the law preventing convicted domestic abusers from possessing firearms.
SAPA has only widened the loophole, Huffman said. Last fall, the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence filed an amicus brief to challenge the constitutionality of SAPA.
Under SAPA, any law that prohibits "a law-abiding citizen" from possessing and using a firearm is an infringement on their rights, and any federal law doing so should not be recognized or enforced in Missouri. The law defines a "law-abiding citizen" as anyone who is not prohibited from having guns under state laws.
Because there isn't a state law preventing domestic abusers from possessing guns, the coalition's brief argues, SAPA deems abusers to be "law-abiding citizens" who are "beyond the reach of federal laws."
Last session, when lawmakers were debating SAPA, Arthur offered an amendment that would close the loophole.
"My argument was that Missouri doesn't have these protections in state law, and if the bill was intended to block local law enforcement to prevent them from enforcing federal law, then we need to have these protections in our state laws," Arthur said.
But the amendment failed to get enough support.
Looking forward, Arthur is hopeful the loophole will be closed. Arthur and McCreery both plan to keep pushing the legislation until they leave office.
"I have seen a group of bipartisan politicians looking for reasonable and common ground solutions," Arthur said. "It's not out of the realm of possibility that this can get done."
