GCLA Legislative Update - May 5, 2003 -- Part 2 Historic Days for Missouri.
After 12 long years of debate, the Missouri legislature has finally put a License-to-Carry [LTC] bill on the Governor's desk.
Last friday, after 11.5 hours of filibuster, Senator Harold Caskey [bill"s floor handler in the Senate] made a privileged motion to call the question [end debate and vote on the bill]. His motion broke the filibuster of seven senators.
By a vote of 23 "yes" to 7 "no" with four not voting [two were absent from the floor, one - DePasco - is ill, and one refused to vote].
Senator Caskey, with successful passage out of the Senate, then returned control of the bill to the House sponsor, Representative Larry Crawford.
Today at approximately 4:20 pm, the House also ended debate and called the question. In the end, the House truly agreed to and finally passed SS HS HCS HB349 by a vote of 105 "yes" to 40 "no" and one "present".
Seventeen representatives were not present for the vote due to very severe weather that struck many parts of the state. One representative who was absent even lost his house during one of these storms.
If your representative was recorded as "absent" do NOT read anything into it. According to the last vote on this bill BEFORE it was sent to the Senate, the total votes in favor of the bill could be as high as 115 "yes" votes IF this were the veto override vote.
There are some differences between what the House passed the first time and the Senate approved version, but most were of a technical nature. The only amendment taken in the senate was one to change the age from 21 to 23 years of age.
With final passage from the House and Senate, the bill now goes to the desk of Governor Bob Holden and may be there as soon as tomorrow. For the FIRST time in twelve years, a LTC bill will land on the Governorīs desk!
IF he choses to veto it right away, the override could also proceed right away. With the current "spirit" at the capitol, his veto would probably be overridden.
The bet is he will wait unitl after session IF he is to veto it so as to NOT jeapardize several other bills he DOES want to get passed.
That is good. That means we have time to convince him that his opposition is in error. That thirty-four other states cannot be wrong. That it is an issue that needs to be put to rest and can ONLY be put to rest by PASSING LTC.
If he waits til after the regular session that ends on friday May 16, we may have to wait until September for the veto override session.
This is NOT over. We have not won... YET. We need your help now more than ever to bring this issue home and turn it into Missouri law.
Call Governor Holden at 573-751-3222 or fax at 573-751-1495. Politely inform the staff person that so far this year, Colorado, New Mexico and Minnesota also passed LTC reform and became the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth states to debate AND PASS LTC reform since Missouri started talking about it in 1991.
It is now up to Governor Bob Holden if Missouri will move with the enlightened thirty-four total states or remain one of six that totally deny their honest citizens the ability to legally defend themselves outside the home.
It is now up to you. Call and write and fax the Governor and ask him to allow SS HS HCS HB349 to become Missouri law.
A REMINDER: Whenever you deal with an elected official, or their staff, ALWAYS BE POLITE, even if they are not. ALWAYS be brief and thank them for their time. Follow up with a nice handwritten letter too.
ALWAYS be POLITE... even if his staff is not.
More updates and more detailed information will follow. Stay tuned to our websites or sign up for these emails.
Thanks,
Greg Jeffery
Legislative Chairman
Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance
Legislative Coordinator
Missourians for Personal Safety
Part-time Designated Spokesman
Western Missouri Shooters Alliance
If you have not signed up for our Grass Roots Action Network email list, please do so today. Don't forget that you can see our alerts, our newsletters and other pertinent information on the struggle to enact License-to-Carry legislation for Missouri by visiting our website at: www.gclastl.org or the website of other state grassroots groups such as MPS at: www.moccw.org and WMSA at: www.wmsa.net and MSSA at: www.safewithguns.org.
