Holden announces ban on guns in state buildings

ST. LOUIS -- Gov. Bob Holden said Monday he will draft emergency rules to ban concealed weapons in all state-owned or operated buildings to ensure the safety of state employees and the public.

Holden, speaking at a news conference in St. Louis, said guns have no place on state property.

"That's why I vetoed this reckless legislation," Holden said. "That's why voters rejected it in 1999."

Weapons currently are banned in state government buildings, but people with permits to carry concealed guns would have been allowed to carry them into state buildings under a law that takes affect Saturday.

The legislature voted Sept. 11 to override Holden's veto of the bill.

To restore the weapons ban, Holden's administration will promulgate emergency administrative rules. Without the emergency rules, weapons would be allowed in such places as state office buildings, the State Capitol, Missouri State Fair buildings, state schools for the blind and deaf, child support enforcement offices and state homes for the developmentally disabled, the governor said.

Holden said the ban does not affect law enforcement officers serving in their official capacity.

The concealed guns law allows the "general assembly, supreme court, county or municipality" to "prohibit or limit" the carrying of concealed firearms. That section does not refer to any gubernatorial authority to ban them.

But Holden's chief legal counsel said the governor's power to impose policies affecting state buildings is granted under other existing sections of state law. That authority was assumed -- not specifically repealed -- by the concealed guns legislation, said Holden's attorney, David Cosgrove.

He said the anti-gun rule will be issued through the Division of Facilities Management within the Office of Administration, which has authority to ensure that buildings are "clean, safe and secure," among other things.

State Rep. Larry Crawford, R-Centertown, said the law does not give the governor authority to ban weapons in state buildings. He said if Holden was really concerned about safety, he would require metal scanners in buildings instead.

Crawford said such bans tell law-abiding citizens they can't bring a concealed gun onto the premises, but the deranged person out to kill someone will see that as an open invitation.

"He's so out of touch with the safety of employees," said Crawford, adding separately: "He has just created an atmosphere ... where criminals and people bent on mayhem know they now have a workplace that is unarmed."

The new gun law allows Missourians age 23 and older to apply to their county sheriffs for a permit to carry concealed guns.

They must pay $100, undergo a background check and pass an eight-hour gun safety course. Guns automatically are banned from such places as courthouses, police stations, bars, child-care facilities, hospitals and churches.

The law also allows anyone 21 or older to conceal guns in the passenger compartment of a vehicle without need of a permit.

Missouri voters narrowly defeated a ballot measure in April 1999 that would have allowed concealed weapons.

On the Net:

Concealed Weapons law: http://www.house.state.mo.us/bills03/biltxt/truly/HB0349T.HTM