Republican gubernatorial candidate Catherine Hanaway stopped in Cape Girardeau as part of her statewide tour Friday afternoon.

During her tour, Hanaway has focused her campaign on a number of issues, including abortion and agriculture legislation. But at Shooters Gun Shop, 335 Christine St., she spoke with voters about gun regulation.

"The overall theme [of my tour] is to restore conservative values to Missouri. ... I think there are too many restrictions on law-abiding gun owners," Hanaway said. "And the penalties aren't strict enough on violent felons who carry firearms."

Included in Hanaway's firearms-regulation platform is a call to make Missouri a "constitutional-carry" state, which means Missouri residents who have not been convicted of a felony would be able to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

"It's only law-abiding citizens who are getting concealed-carry permits anyway," she said.

If enacted, Missouri would become the eighth state to feature such regulations.

She said, as in other states, her proposal would not extend to all guns, such as long guns, but instead would apply only to firearms permissible under current concealed-carry regulations.

"Anything that you can lawfully carry today, you'd be able to carry without a permit," Hanaway said.

She also said the change would not mean concealed weapons would be permissible anywhere and everywhere.

"Private businesses should have the right to restrict what happens on their premises," she said.

If elected, she said, Missouri residents still would be able to obtain concealed-carry permits but would need them only for traveling outside the state to an area without constitutional carry.

She also advocated for mandatory minimum sentencing for violent felons who possess firearms and those who use firearms to commit felonies. The former would carry a minimum sentence of five years in prison; the latter would require five years for a first offense and 10 years for each successive conviction.

"For criminals who hurt people with guns, we want them to go to jail for a long time," she said.

Shooters Gun Shop co-owner David Lange said he thought Hanaway had some good ideas.

"She has some good views on things, and she said that over-regulation has become a big problem," he said. "And I'd have to totally agree with her."

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

335 Christine St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.