‘There is no way you’ll ever pass Constitutional Carry in Missouri in one year — Bloomberg will block you, the minority party will filibuster you, and the media will annihilate you. It can’t be done.’
That’s what one Capitol insider in Jefferson City told us back in January, when we began our fight to make Missouri the next Constitutional Carry state!
And let me tell you, he wasn’t far off.
Michael Bloomberg, a radical billionaire over 1,000 miles from Missouri, has spent untold amounts of his personal fortune trying to crush our rights and our way of life here in Missouri this year.
Of course you’ll remember that after your calls and emails and Facebook notes you sent to your legislators, we passed Constitutional Carry through the House and Senate with overwhelming and bi-partisan majorities — only to see Governor Nixon veto this legislation.
Honestly, none of us were surprised and I’m sure you weren’t either. Nixon has long been on the warpath against our freedoms and now, in his final months of elected office, he remained true to form.
But we didn’t let that stop us. And neither did you.
And I’m pleased to announce that Constitutional Carry and Stand-Your-Ground law will soon be the law of the land here in Missouri as the legislature overrode the veto on Senate Bill 656 late last night!
In the last few months since that flawed veto, the Missouri Firearms Coalition gathered almost 7,500 signed petitions from Missourians demanding that the legislature override Gov. Nixon’s veto — and delivered those to the Senate yesterday!
We’ve worked the media circuit, explaining to Missourians what’s at stake.
We had our op-eds in major newspapers across the state.
Our social media program was firing on all cylinders, putting pressure on those legislators that we were told were ‘going soft’ on supporting the override.
Our statewide emails mobilized people by the tens of thousands.
But our work is only as effective as our members are at taking the information and pouring the pressure onto their elected officials in Jefferson City. None of this would have been possible without YOU!
Every call, every email, every message sent via Facebook, and every visit with your politician at a forum let the politicians in Jefferson City know that gun owners were mobilized, educated, and not willing to take “No” for an answer.
Thank you so much for standing with all of us here at the Missouri Firearms Coalition!
Having been overridden, this legislation will now become law.
Once finalized, this legislation will allow law abiding gun owners to carry a defensive handgun for any lawful purpose without first needing to obtain government permission, joining ten other states that have the same system in place!
More than that, we’ve removed the duty to retreat before defending yourself or your loved ones after being confronted by a violent criminal in a public place.
This law, known as Stand-Your-Ground law, ensures that you and I can’t be re-victimized by a politically motivated anti-gun prosecutor who wants to hang you out to dry after being forced to defend yourself in a public place.
The bill also cleans up our current Castle Doctrine law in a meaningful way (and no, Stand-Your-Ground law and Castle Doctrine are not the same thing) and creates a lifetime concealed carry permit at the same time.
Simply put: this legislation represents the largest expansion of our gun rights in Missouri history!
But it’s important to note that this didn’t just happen.
For too long, gun owners were more or less told “Don’t worry about it guys, we’ll handle it,” by the politicians in Jefferson City. Many gun bills that should have passed, long ago, have been allowed to die.
That why I formed the Missouri Firearms Coalition in the first place – I was tired of waiting on politicians in Jefferson City who campaign as being pro-gun but then do next to nothing once safely in office.
So instead of begging the politicians to pass this legislation, we’ve been working to pour on the pressure on legislators that we believed were about to betray us.
That’s who we are. Gun owners are not playing games here in Missouri any longer. And that word got out in Jefferson City this year, which is why the legislature just overrode this veto.
So again, thank you very much for all of your activism. Without your calls and emails, none of this would have happened! Take a moment to celebrate this win and pat yourself on the back.
And of course, we’d like to thank Rep. Eric Burlison, our bill sponsor in this fight.
Eric’s relentless commitment to this fight on the inside — as we fought on the outside — was a powerful force. While many legislators talk a good talk, Eric walked the walk.
But our fight for the Second Amendment is far from over.
Missouri statute is rife with areas where you and I can’t carry defensive firearms, with or without a permit, leaving you and me vulnerable.
Amusement parks, churches, daycare, local governmental buildings, hospitals, sports stadiums, buses — and many more places besides — are all areas that the state of Missouri has deemed a “gun free zone.”
Of course, you and I know that gun free zones are a farce. It’s these so-called ‘gun free zones’ where a madman with a gun ALWAYS goes to murder unarmed victims.
We’ve seen it time and time again.
The shooting in Orlando, FL, earlier this year, where almost 50 were murdered, took place in a ‘gun free zone.’
The shooting that took place in the church in South Carolina last year, where 9 people were gunned down, happened in a gun free zone.
The shooting at the military recruiting center in Tennessee last year, where 5 military members died, was posted as a ‘gun free zone.’
The same was true at the Aurora movie theatre in Colorado in 2012, the school in Sandy Hook in CT, and on and on and on.
It’s time that Missouri end these “gun free zones” before Missourians pay the ultimate price!
Stay tuned for much more on this issue as we approach the 2017 legislative session.
The fight for the Second Amendment never ends. Our rights are never safe and the price of our liberty is eternal vigilance. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us to stand and fight for their rights the same way that our forefathers fought for ours.
So if you can, please consider a donation to the Missouri Firearms Coalition right now — to help us replenish our funds to get ready for the upcoming election season as well as the 2017 legislative session.
Thank you for being a part of this fight!
It sure paid off this time.
Let’s keep moving forward!
For Freedom,
Dr. Curt Frazier
Chairman of the Board
P.S. Late last night the Missouri legislature, responding to a massive amount of grassroots pressure from gun owners all over the state, overrode the Bloomberg/Nixon veto on SB 656!
This will bring Constitutional Carry AND Stand-Your-Ground legislation into law in Missouri — impacting millions here in the state!
Thank you, so much, for all of your activism. Without it we would never have been able to accomplish any of this.
For too long, our gun rights have taken a back seat in Jefferson City. But those days are gone. With your help, we’re going to continue to lead the charge here in Missouri to continue the expansion of our Second Amendment rights!
It’s essential that we have the resources we need for the 2017 session, as we seek to do away with Missouri’s dangerous ‘gun free zones.’