SPONSOR: Schroer
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on General Laws by a vote of 12 to 1.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HB 1893.
This bill establishes "Blair s Law" which specifies that a person commits the crime of unlawful use of a weapon if, with criminal negligence, he or she discharges a firearm within or into the limits of any municipality. Any such person shall be guilty of a class E felony for the first offense and a class D felony for the second offense. These provisions will not apply if the firearm is discharged under the circumstances listed in the bill.
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that there is a safety issue when guns are fired within city limits. This bill was named in honor of a girl who was killed from celebratory gunfire in 2011. Celebratory gunfire is very dangerous, and this bill will help protect communities.
Testifying for the bill were Representative Schroer; Missouri Fraternal Order of Police, St. Louis Police Officers Association; Kansas City Fraternal Order Of Police; South Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; Kansas City Chamber; Arnie C. "AC" Dienoff.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
Statutes affected: