This morning, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen unanimously gave its approval to the final wording of a bill that would require individuals open-carrying firearms to have a concealed carry permit.
The bill still needs to be voted on a final time by the board next week Thursday. But today's vote, as well as comments from aldermen prior to that vote, indicate that its passage appears likely. If it passes next week, it will be sent to Mayor Tishaura Jones to be signed into law.
This morning, the bill’s initial sponsor, Ward 8 Alderwoman Cara Spencer, said that the bill was making the most of "one narrow exception" allowed by state law for cities to regulate guns on their streets. "We're in a situation which is very volatile and very dangerous, where the open carrying of firearms is not only legal, but it's very pervasive and very prevalent," she said.
When the bill was introduced by Spencer in May, it didn't at first have the wide support it got today. Mayor Tishaura Jones didn't say if she was for or against it, only that her legal team was reviewing it.
Several aldermen expressed concerns at a Public Safety Committee meeting in June that the proposed law could lead to more interactions between police and men of color, which could turn deadly, and that police would be approaching people with firearms just to write them a citation.
At a press conference in June, President of the Board of Aldermen Megan Green, standing next to Spencer, said that Kansas City has a similar law on the books that isn’t enforced because "they are concerned about the legality of it and being sued if they did enforce it."
Spencer rebutted: "They haven't needed to enforce it because the open carrying of firearms hasn't become commonplace there."
At this morning's meeting, Ward 14 Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, who had previously expressed concerns about the bill having a "stop and frisk" effect, said that since the bill’s introduction it had been amended in ways that won him over. The amended bill includes a provision requiring police to track the race of people stopped in relation to enforcing the ordinance.
Ward 12 Alderwoman Sharon Tyus said she had similar concerns about the unintended consequences of police enforcing the law but ultimately felt that if police can ask for the driver's license of someone driving a car then they can ask to see the permit of someone toting around a gun in plain view.
Only people aged 19 or older can get a concealed carry permit (or people who are 18 if they are in the military).
Ward 4 Alderman Bret Narayan, speaking favorably of the bill this morning, called it "a bill to stop children carrying guns in our city. "
When police do stop someone open-carrying who doesn't have a concealed carry permit, they can take the weapon and process it to see if it had been involved in any crimes. If not, the gun owner can retrieve the weapon after signing an affidavit confirming it is theirs.
Prior to voting this morning, Ward 5 Alderman Joe Vollmer asked to be added as a co-sponsor.
"In my ward last fall a teenager walked to a school with an automatic weapon, six hundred rounds of ammunition, down the street," he said. "He was completely legal until he fired the gun."
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