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Kansas City sues companies as “public nuisances” for supplying guns to charged trafficker

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Kansas Mayor Quenton Lucas and the city council are using a legal tactic to try to slow record-level gun violence in the city: suing gun companies for “looking the other way” in what the attorneys call obvious illegal trafficking. Lucas says the public nuisance lawsuit is against at least three companies that shipped dozens of guns to one person without the required federal background check.

KC Mayor Quenton Lucas made gun violence a priority in his election campaign.

“There is a significant problem with illegal gun trafficking in our city and while a lot of our criminal justice partners certainly try to make sure they root this out and address it, there are a lot of private actors that each day create new threats for the citizens of Kansas City, frankly for the citizens of our entire region,” Lucas said in a Tuesday press conference.

The guns were sold to former Kansas City Fire Department Capt. James Samuels who is now charged with federal gun trafficking. One of the firearms was used in a murder.

Mayor Lucas says they are not going after legal gun sales.

“Existing laws should be enforced and to the extent that those are not followed by actors, then there are harms thereafter and this legal action is saying those that are creating a public nuisance in Kansas City by not adhering to federal laws, those that have created public nuisances through their own negligence should be held to account in some way and should have to rectify and reform their practices,” Lucas said.

The lawsuit is aided by Everytown Law, part of the Everytown for Gun Safety effort.

The mayor says he will continue to talk with Gov. Mike Parson about the city’s violence problems while he’s in Jefferson City for the State of the State address. He will also meet in Jefferson City with other Missouri mayors who have been working together with the governor on crime solutions.

Lucas will also be lobbying for their public safety agenda.

“I continue to believe that we need to enhance our Missouri public defender system,” Lucas said, “We need to have more funding for jailing and incarceration — not to build more jails — but to make sure that we are actually humane in our treatment of inmates in the state of Missouri. Those are things we are working on and longterm, certainly mental health, trauma treatment services, particularly for victims of shootings and there were 480 of them in Kansas City, Missouri last year, is a key focus.”

(VIDEO) Gov. Parson, Mayor Krewson press conference in St. Louis, promise a plan in 10 days

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Governor Mike Parson, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and County Executive Sam Page held a press conference after meeting with law enforcement and other city leaders about the area’s continued spike in violent crime. The governor calls it “a crisis in our state” and promises to have a plan in place in 10 days.

Watch the entire press conference below:

House passes gun nullification legislation

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The state House has passed this year’s attempt at a law to nullify federal gun laws in Missouri. The bill would declare null and void any current or future gun law or regulation that infringes on the right to keep and bear arms.

State representative Doug Funderburk (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

State representative Doug Funderburk (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Doug Funderburk (R-St. Peters) says he has removed a provision that would have caused a law enforcement officer who enforces such a federal law to be prevented from ever being a Missouri law enforcement officer again.

“I don’t want to risk a good law enforcement officer’s career on the potential that they may have made a one-time mistake in the carrying-out of their duties,” says Funderburk.

The legislation is HB 1439

Representative Judy Morgan (D-Kansas City) says the bill is clearly unconstitutional and will be thrown out by courts. She is also concerned about some of the laws it seeks to nullify.

“It’s against federal laws for any person to sell any firearm or ammunition to felons, fugitives from justice, unlawful drug users, anyone who has been committed to a mental institution or anyone who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” notes Morgan.

The House’s bill would also let Missourians sue federal workers for enforcing federal laws.

The two chambers have only until Friday evening to agree on a law and send it to the Governor.

KC mayor talks gun control measures (AUDIO)

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Kansas City Mayor Sly James says gun control and violence was a hot topic at the annual conference of mayors. James has strong opinions on how to solve the problem … local control.

The Center for American Progress says Missouri ranks eighth in the nation for gun violence. The report contains some startling statistics, stating that in 2010, 62 children were killed with guns in Missouri, and had the fourth highest homicide rate with firearms in the nation. That’s 56 percent above the national average. Read the full report HERE. (Missouri statistics are on Page 57.)

Kansas City Mayor Sly James says taking illegal guns away is not an option.

“I’d like to have the ability to do something in our metropolitan area to address the issue of illegal guns, but our hands are tied,” he says. “State governments are always railing on the federal government for wanting to control them and they don’t want that, but then state governments turn around and do the same thing with cities.”

James says gun control policies must take different areas and demographics into consideration to be effective.

“This is not a one-size-fits-all situation,” he says. “What happens in Kansas City and St. Louis is not the same thing that happens in Joplin and Springfield. We need to address that. I don’t think it’s any great mystery as to why we have more homicides than other areas. It’s because we can’t do anything about the instruments used in those homicides.”

The Center for American Progress report says that in 2009, Missouri sold almost 600 guns that went on to be used in crimes in other states. And while it ranks Missouri eighth in the nation for gun violence, it puts our state fifth in the nation for aggravated assault with a firearm.

AUDIO: James talks with Jessica Machetta about gun violence (1:42)

AUDIO: Jessica Machetta reports (1:13)

 

Two gun rights proposals heard in House committee

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Representative Casey Guernsey (left) and Representative Chrissy Sommer have presented their gun rights legislation in a House Committee.

Representative Casey Guernsey (left) and Representative Chrissy Sommer have presented their gun rights legislation in a House Committee.

The House Committee on General Laws has held hearings on two bills whose sponsors say they are needed to protect the gun rights of Missourians.

Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) has offered HB 170 that would make it a class “D” felony to enforce or try to enforce any gun laws in connection to a gun, gun accessory or ammunition owned or made in Missouri. It would also allow a Missourian accused of violating federal law related to those items to ask for the defense of the Attorney General in court.

It also would make unenforceable in Missouri any federal laws or regulations passed after January 1, 2013 that ban or restrict ownership of semi-automatic guns or their magazines, or requires guns or accessories to be registered.

Guernsey tells the Committee the rights of Missourians to keep and bear arms must be defended.

“I think it’s incumbent upon us as legislators … the Constitution guarantees us, as legislators, the ability to protect Missouri citizens when the federal government overreaches its bounds … its delegated authority that it’s given, and I think that’s exactly what this bill does.”

Democrats on the committee raised questions about whether Missouri law enforcement officers would have to arrest federal agents enforcing federal gun laws, under Guernsey’s proposal.  They say the legislation will likely end up in the courts if it is passed.

Representative Chrissy Sommer’s (R-St. Charles) bill, HB 162, would create what she calls the “Missouri Firearms Freedom Act.” It would make guns, ammunition and gun accessories made in Missouri exempt from federal laws and regulations, including registration, under Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce.

Sommer says similar legislation has been filed in several other states and is the subject of a lawsuit in Montana that has been stalled for more than a year.

“Attorney Generals in Montana, Utah, Alabama, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and West Virginia have also filed briefs in support of this lawsuit which was started by gun advocates.”

Ron Calzone, one of the directors of state sovereignty organization Missouri First, testified in favor of Sommer’s bill. He told lawmakers it could protect products made by at least one company in Missouri, CMMG in Fayette, a manufacturer that specializes in AR-15s.

“It’s what some people are calling ‘assault rifles.’ I asked the owner of that company … can you build your AR-15s with just Missouri components, and he said, ‘Yes.'”

Representative Mike Colona inquires a witness about Rep. Guernsey's bill.

Representative Mike Colona inquires a witness about Rep. Guernsey’s bill.

Representative Mike Colona (D-St. Louis) asked whether either proposal could jeopardize federal funding that comes to Missouri to support law enforcement programs.

“My question is, if we draw the line in the sand … if that also comes with withholding federal funds that do things like keep guns off the streets, is it worth it?”

Representative John McCaherty (R-High Ridge) offered his answer to Colona’s question.

“What if it was our freedom of speech, and they were taking that away? Would it be worth giving up federal dollars to maintain our freedom of speech? I look at this … this is a rights issue, and is it worth federal dollars? I’d have to say yeah.”

No one testified in opposition to either proposal, and neither was voted on.

House bill would make filing tighter gun law proposals a felony

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A proposal has been filed in the state House that would make it illegal for a member of the General Assembly to propose tighter gun laws.

Representative Mike Leara

Representative Mike Leara

The bill, offered by Representative Mike Leara (R-St. Louis), would make it a class “D” felony for a legislator to offer a bill that “further restricts the right of an individual to bear arms.”

In a statement, Leara says, “I filed HB 633 as a matter of principle and as a statement in defense of the Second Amendment rights of all Missourians. I have no illusions about the bill making it through the legislative process, but I want it to be clear that the Missouri House will stand in defense of the people’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

A class “D” felony carries a prison term of up to four years.