Municipalities in Missouri are coming to terms with a recently approved state law that prohibits cities and towns from banning open carry.
“We had no choice in the matter,” Webster Groves Mayor Gerri Welch said with respect to repealing the city’s open carry ban, in an interview with KMOV St. Louis. “We must comply with state law, and all of us as municipalities are facing this.”
The law was part of a larger package of pro-gun measures, known as SB 656, that gave school district’s the option to arm teachers and lowered the minimum age required to obtain a concealed carry permit from 21 to 19.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the measures, but the GOP-dominated Legislature overrode the Democratic governor’s veto back in September, thus clearing the path for SB 665 to take effect.
Following the override, open carry advocates took to the streets in St. Louis for a peaceful celebration. Needless to say, many anti-open carry city officials weren’t too pleased with the march.