1999 Proposition B in Missouri - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Proposition B in Missouri was a failed 1999 ballot measure that would have required local police authorities to issue concealed weapons permits to eligible citizens. It was a contentious issue and was narrowly rejected at the time by the electorate, but the legislature later approved similar legislation in 2003.

Supporters

Support for concealed carry

Concealed carry

Concealed carry, or CCW , refers to the practice of carrying a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or in proximity.-In Canada:...

laws in Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

grew gradually throughout the 1990s. In 1991, a group to promote such laws called "the conference" was formed and that nickname was used until the Missouri Legislative Issues Council (MOLIC) was formed in 1995 for official recognition. Support for these laws increased in part as a response to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is an Act of the United States Congress that, for the first time, instituted federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States....

and other national gun control efforts.

After author/columnist John Ross made his attempts to convince Missouri legislators, other supporters also emerged. The NRA

National Rifle Association

The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...

formed Missourians Against Crime (MAC) in 1998 as their spokesman into Missouri. This created an issue with the MOLIC membership. Negative campaigns seldom succeed in Missouri. The MOLIC organization was transformed into Missourians for Personal Safety(MPS) for the 1998 Proposition B campaign with Steve McGhee as the President. These combined efforts brought notoriety to Greg Jeffery, attorney/author Kevin Jamison, and Tim Oliver, to the forefront of their local/regional news media. As the Missouri Sport Shooting Association (MSSA), joined (unofficially) in support, they all proceeded with their regional campaigning attempts. Eventually, more and more individuals heard of these volunteers/members and took up the task to support the proposition with smaller meetings and neighborhood 'grass roots' action groups.

Police Officers generally supported the measure: "In a recent poll, more than eighty-five percent of our 1352 members favored Right-to-Carry.", Letter to St. Louis Police Chief Ron Henderson, from Sgt. John J. Johnson, President St. Louis Police Officers Association, 1/23/99."

The Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance (GCLA) arose after the failure to pass the proposition in 1999; forming itself from MOLIC, MPS, and with WMSA giving support, to become the leadership and legislative clearing house for the 2003 success in passing a shall-issue law. Frequent trips to Jefferson City by Greg Jeffery (GCLA cofounder) earned him the nickname ‘braintrust’ to a newly created law that was adopted by Missouri in 2003.

Opponents

Handgun Control, Inc., saw this as their test case before the elections in 2000 to exercise their political influence and lobbied hard to defeat the referendum. Political notables included the Clinton/Gore Administration with Attorney General Janet Reno

Janet Reno

Janet Wood Reno is a former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...

playing a secondary role to Hillary Clinton's

Political views of Hillary Rodham Clinton

United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a former U.S. Senator from New York and candidate for the nomination of the Democratic Party in the 2008 U.S...

activism, Governor Mel Carnahan

Mel Carnahan

Melvin Eugene "Mel" Carnahan was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as the 51st Governor of Missouri from 1993 to 2000. He died in a plane crash on the Pevely and Hillsboro, Missouri border during a campaign for the U.S...

and his daughter Robin Carnahan, the 1994 appointed Secretary of State, Rebecca Cook, and State Auditor, Claire McCaskill

Claire McCaskill

Claire Conner McCaskill is the senior United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Democratic Party. She defeated Republican incumbent Jim Talent in the 2006 U.S. Senate election, by a margin of 49.6% to 47.3%. She is the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri in her own...

.

Robin Carnahan

Robin Carnahan

Robin Carnahan is an American politician, daughter of Missouri politicians Mel and Jean Carnahan and the current Missouri Secretary of State. She is a member of the Democratic Party and was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010, to replace retiring Republican Sen...

chaired the Safe Schools and Workplaces Committee (SSWC) and orchestrated television ads against the proposition. Also, on the weekend prior to voting day, that organization coordinated the taped phone message from Hillary Clinton to automatically dial 75,000 homes statewide with the message, "just too dangerous for Missouri families."

Ballot language

The General Assembly approved the following ballot language:

"Shall state or local law enforcement agencies be authorized to issue permits to law-abiding citizens at least twenty-one years of age to carry concealed firearms outside their home for personal protection after having passed a state and federal criminal background check and having completed a firearms safety training course approved by the Missouri Department of Public Safety? "

After a lawsuit filed by the opponents of the measure, the language was changed. The final text read:

"Shall sheriffs, or in the case of St. Louis County, the chief of police, be required to issue permits to carry concealed firearms to citizens who apply if various statutory requirements are satisfied?" Because of the discretion given to local law enforcement to verify the accuracy of applications, the costs are uncertain. Application fees are estimated to cover most costs for the first three years. Subsequently, local governments, as a whole, may incur costs from $500,000 to $1,000,000 annually, not covered by fees."

Missouri Sport Shooting Association President Kevin Jamison described it as, "The opposition conducted a poll of the ballot language which determined that 60% of the state would vote in favor of License to Carry. Outraged that the people might "speak wrong", the Governor's lawyer filed a suit with the Missouri Supreme Court to change the ballot language. The defendants in the suit were Attorney General Jay Nixon and State Auditor Claire McCaskill."

Campaign controversies

The use of official government resources by opponents of the measure was controversial.

"Missouri's two US Attorneys are using the Justice Department's name and facilities to lobby against the state's concealed weapons ballot issue. Using official department letterhead, the attorneys, Edward Dowd and Stephen Hill, urged sheriffs and police chiefs across the state to rally resistance against Proposition B, which is on the ballot this April. Dowd's office is operating an 800 number which people can call to obtain anti-prop B campaigning materials. Calls to the 800 number, 1-800-214-2690, are answered with "US Attorneys Office." "

Some advertisements used in the campaign were deceptive, particularly an opposition ad that implied Missourians would be allowed to carry Uzis that continued into 2000.

Results

Proposition B gained 634,361 votes in favor (48.3%) and 678,256 votes against (51.7%), thus being defeated by a margin of 3.3%.

The majority of voters in rural Missouri voted in favor of Proposition B. However, urban voters, particularly in St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

and Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, tipped the balance against Proposition B. 74.1% of the voters in the city of St. Louis, 69.5% in St. Louis County

St. Louis County, Missouri

St. Louis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Its county seat is Clayton. St. Louis County is part of the St. Louis Metro Area wherein the independent City of St. Louis and its suburbs in St. Louis County, as well as the surrounding counties in both Missouri and Illinois all...

, and 71.6% in Kansas City opposed Proposition B.

In 2003, after ignoring the results of Proposition B, the Missouri General Assembly

Missouri General Assembly

The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate, and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are subject to term limits...

passed new laws to enable shall-issue permits.

Participant Roles during 1999

The following persons played important roles in the creation of law in the State of Missouri

Missouri

. This is not their biography but an outline of the positions held during the 1999 Proposition B campaigns.

John Ross

Pro-2nd Amendment activist.

John Ross

John Ross (author)

John Franklin Ross is the author of the underground bestselling novel Unintended Consequences, author of a regular column on the Internet, and was the Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in 1998 in Missouri's 2nd congressional district...

Author/Columnist

Concealed Firearms Instructor

1998 Chairman/Co-founder; Missouri Legislative Issues Council (MOLIC).

Co-founder; Missourians for Personal Safety (MPS)

Supporter, Missouri Sport Shooting Association (MSSA)

Kevin Jamison

Pro-2nd Amendment activist.

Attorney/Author

Co-founder; Missouri Legislative Issues Council (MOLIC)

Co-founder; Missourians for Personal Safety (MPS)

2006 President, Missouri Sport Shooting Association (MSSA)

Tim Oliver

Pro-2nd Amendment activist.

Conceal Carry Firearms Instructor

Co-founder; Missouri Legislative Issues Council (MOLIC)

Co-founder; Missourians for Personal Safety (MPS)

Supporter; Missouri Sport Shooting Association (MSSA)

Greg Jeffery

Pro-2nd Amendment activist.

Co-founder; Missouri Legislative Issues Council (MOLIC)

Co-founder; Missourians for Personal Safety (MPS)

Supporter, Missouri Sport Shooting Association (MSSA)

Co-founder The Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance (GCLA)

Legislative Consultant to Missouri Law makers.

Steve McGhee

Pro-2nd Amendment activist.

NRA Master Training Counselor/Instructor

1998 President, Missouri Sport Shooting Association (MSSA)

1999 President/Co-founder; Missourians for Personal Safety (MPS)

Campaign Funding

Pro-2nd Amendment
NRA	+$3 Million

Pro-Gun Control
Out of State	$399,079
In State	$164,000

Carnahan Participation

Pro-Gun Control activist.
Governor Mel Carnahan pledged neutrality.

Robin Carnahan chaired the Safe Schools and Workplaces Committee (SSWC)

1999 Federal Participation

Pro-Gun Control activist.

US Attorneys: (established 1-800-214-2690))

Edward Dowd (Eastern Missouri)

Stephen Hill (Western Missouri)

1999 White House Participation

Pro-Gun Control & Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is an Act of the United States Congress that, for the first time, instituted federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States....

activist.

President Clinton signed Federal assault weapons ban

Federal assault weapons ban

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban was a subtitle of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law in the United States that included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms, so called "assault weapons"...

in 1993 which expired in 2004.

Hillary Clinton gave a taped voice message to condemn Prop B.

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