DISTURBING AND DANGEROUS: Missouri Governor Signs Bill to Undermine St. Louis’ Ability to Advance Gun Violence Prevention Measures, Transferring Control of Police Department to State Board of Police

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, issued the following statement following Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signing House Bill 495 into law.  This dangerous measure will wrest control of the city’s police force away from its democratically elected mayor in St. Louis and place it in the hands of an appointed board — thwarting any efforts by the city to improve community trust in policing or enact police accountability measures, undermining public safety in St. Louis.  

“Governor Kehoe’s decision to strip St. Louis of its ability to control its own police force is a dangerous and shameless political stunt, driven by extremist Republican lawmakers hellbent on undermining communities they have no interest in protecting. This move is as cowardly as it is destructive,” said Kristin Bowen, lead with the Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action. “While Mayor Tishaura Jones — co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns — has led St. Louis to a decline in homicides through smart, community-centered public safety tactics, Missouri remains one of the deadliest states for gun violence. Instead of tackling our state’s rampant gun violence crisis, the Governor is undermining the very progress that has made St. Louis safer. This blatant power grab isn’t just anti-public safety — it’s anti-Republican in every sense, robbing local communities of their right to self-govern. The people of St. Louis deserve better than to be used as pawns in a cynical political game.”

“This legislation is an overstep of the legislature in an attempt to prevent life-saving gun violence reform in the City of St. Louis,” said Sheleasa Blackwell, volunteer lead with the St. Louis chapter of Moms Demand Action, and survivor fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network. Blackwell’s son, Corey, was shot and killed in St. Louis in 2022. In Corey’s honor, Blackwell started the nonprofit foundation Corey’s Way of Caring. “Our lawmakers should be searching for ways to work alongside local officials to curb crime and find comprehensive solutions to make our communities safer — not strip their municipal rights.”

Despite taking steps to combat gun violence, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and Kansas City lawmakers and law enforcement have been held back by extremists as Missouri already controls Kansas City’s police force. For nearly a century, the Kansas City police department has been controlled by the state rather than the city. This relinquishment of law enforcement power is used by extremists in the state legislature to politically control the ability for the city to make public safety decisions on behalf of their constituents. Republican state lawmakers introduced similar legislation to grab control of the St. Louis police department for multiple years, only finally advancing this year.

Unfortunately, HB 495 is not the only dangerous gun legislation Missouri extremists are advancing this year. Other reckless bills already introduced include:

• SB 77, which would further weaken gun laws by forcing firearms into places of worship and public transit;
• SB 142, legislation to nullify federal laws in Missouri by declaring federal and state judicial orders requiring relinquishment of firearms by “law-abiding citizens” as a Second Amendment infringement, effectively attempting to invalidate any extreme risk protection order from another jurisdiction, and 
• SB 363, legislation to expand Missouri’s dangerous Shoot First law, a policy associated with an increase in homicides and with instances of racist gun violence, giving people a license to kill, allowing them to use deadly force as a first option rather than the last and then claim self defense. 

Missouri lawmakers have put lives in jeopardy by systematically chipping away at any and all gun safety laws, including rolling back measures to require background checks for private handgun sales and measures to require a permit to carry concealed firearms in public. Missouri lawmakers are trying to expand a dangerous Shoot First law, also known as Stand Your Ground, which gives people a license to kill by allowing them to use deadly force as a first option rather than the last. These laws have been associated with an increase in homicides and instances of racist gun violence. This policy has a disproportionate impact on communities of color. In states with Shoot First laws, homicides in which white shooters kill Black victims are deemed justifiable five times more frequently than when the situation is reversed.

The combination of Shoot First Laws and paranoid extremism promoted by the gun lobby have created a vigilante gun culture that encourages people to seek out dangerous situations and emboldens them to preemptively shoot others and then claim self-defense. The shooting of Ralph Yarl in 2023 highlighted just how dangerous the reality is of the culture created by these gun lobby policies — one where paranoid adults, armed with deadly weapons, can shoot children with no warning.

Missouri has some of the weakest gun laws in the country and lacks many foundational gun safety laws, which has resulted in the state having the eight highest rate of gun deaths and fourth highest rate of gun injury in the country.  In an average year, 1,381 people die by guns in Missouri. More information about Missouri’s gun laws is available here.