Missouri decides against banning unsupervised minors from carrying guns openly in public property.

A proposal failed to advance this week that bans minors from carrying some guns, without the presence of a 21-year-old, on public property, as the Republic lawmakers decide to not include the proposed amendment in a broader crime bill.

A bipartisan working group in the legislature recommended the proposal but it was removed last week amid opposition from Republicans in the state House of Representatives, who said people with no intention to commit crimes should not be penalized for carrying guns.

It was disappointing for the supporters as on Wednesday an amendment aiming to restore the language failed in the state House of Representatives with 104 opposed and 39 in favor votes.

“We are telling you, as the representatives and as people who represent some of these dangerous communities and these dangerous areas, this is an important piece,” Rep. LaKeySha Bosley told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when the language was removed on Feb. 2.

The back-and-forth over the crime bill is the latest in a series of controversies over gun control in conservative Missouri. Last year the legislature passed a state law, last year, banning enforcement of federal gun laws that officials believe violate the U.S. Constitution’s protection of a citizen’s right to bear arms.

There is a state law that allows people of any age to carry weapons openly in many locations, even though federal law prohibits minors to get ownership of handguns.

Representative Donna Baringer, the amendment’s author and a Democrat from St. Louis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the Associated Press reported that she said she made the proposal to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St. Louis carrying AR-15s.”

The broader crime bill will now be considered by the state senate after being passed by the House of Representatives.

source : reuters