JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Constitution doesn't shield applicants for concealed-weapons permits from having to provide information that may disqualify them from receiving such permits, a state appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

Paul Heidbrink had argued that because the state constitution says a citizen's right to keep and bear arms "shall not be questioned," he could not be compelled to provide authorities with information necessary to determine his eligibility for a permit. St. Charles County Associate Circuit Court Judge Ted House agreed and ordered that Heidbrink be issued a permit.

In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District in St. Louis reversed House's decision. Although the existence of the right to bear arms under the state constitution is beyond question, the scope of that right is not, the appeals court said.

In the opinion, Judge Lawrence Mooney said the right is not absolute and must be balanced against the state's police power, including the legislature's authority to protect the public by setting standards for who may carry hidden firearms.

"Missouri's Constitution, like the federal constitution, is not a suicide pact," Mooney wrote. "Habitual felons and psychopaths do not enjoy an unfettered constitutional right to obtain weapons without being troubled by questions about their checkered past."

The state's concealed-weapons law disqualifies convicted felons, people with a history of mental illness or substance abuse and those who have been dishonorably discharged from the military from obtaining a permit. Heidbrink didn't directly challenge the constitutionality of those restrictions but merely invoked a right not to cooperate with authorities seeking to verify his fitness to carry a concealed weapon.

St. Charles County Sheriff Tim Swope refused to issue Heidbrink a permit after Heidbrink refused to offer documentation related to his discharge from the U.S. Navy following a 1986 arrest for desertion. Heidbrink claimed he received a "bad conduct" discharge, which he said didn't rise to the level of a dishonorable discharge.

Once the proper documentation is obtained, the appeals court said, it will be up to the trial judge to determine whether Heidbrink's discharge disqualifies him from receiving a permit.

Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department said the agency has encountered no problems with permit applicants refusing to provide requested information since it began processing applications last year.

The case is Paul V. Heidbrink v. St. Charles County Sheriff Tim Swope.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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