MO: Permitless or "Constitutional" carry passes Legislature, on to Governor Nixon

The Missouri omnibus firearm reform bill, SB 656, has passed the legislature on the last day of the session, May 13, 2016. It includes permitless or "Constitutional" carry. It will now go to Governor Nixon for signature or veto.
According to the NRA-ILA, SB 656 has these primary features:

Recognize Missourians right to Constitutional/Permitless Carry where open carry is not prohibited

Expand Missouri’s current Stand your Ground laws 

Expand Castle Doctrine protections for anyone legally allowed into your home, vehicle, business and property

Specify that except for credit card fees incurred, no additional fee beyond $100 may be charged to process concealed carry permits and allows military members extra time to renew their permits

Implement 10, 20 and 50 year options for non-reciprocity issued permits

Allow components of firearm training for RTC permits to be online

Democrat Governor Nixon has not yet received the bill.   He has three options.  The fourth listed below does not apply because the bills are not appropriation bills.

VII. SIGNING BY THE GOVERNOR

Bills Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed are signed in open session by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tem of the Senate. At the time of signing, any members may file written objections which are sent with the bill to the Governor. The Governor has fifteen days to act on a bill if it is sent to him during the legislative session; and forty-five days if the legislature has adjourned or has recessed for a thirty day period. The Governor has four options:

1. Sign the bill, making it become part of Missouri law. 2. Veto the bill. In this case, the bill is returned to the General Assembly where a two-thirds vote of both houses is required to override the veto.
3. Not sign the bill. Should the Governor take no action within the prescribed time, the bill goes to the Secretary of State, who then enrolls the bill as an authentic act. It then becomes law.

4. Veto line-items in an appropriation bill. On appropriation bills only, the Governor may choose to veto selected items within the bill. The General Assembly may override this veto by a two-thirds majority of both houses.

Because the legislature is not in session, Governor Nixon has 45 days to decide what action he wishes to take.   By my calculation, that would be the 28th or 29th of June.

SB 656 passed the House and Senate with large margins.  The final vote in the House was 111 yea, 40 nay and 11 absent.  In the Senate the final vote was 31 yea and 1 absent.  Those are more than sufficient to override a veto if Governor Nixon choses to exercise that option.

The bill number, SB 656, may be a not so subtle message to Governor Nixon.  In 2014, the legislature passed an omnibus gun reform bill, also titled SB 656.  It also had 111 yea votes in the House, but only 21 yea votes in the Senate. It also passed the legislature on the last day of the session.  Governor Nixon vetoed the 2014 SB 656  on July 14, 2014.  On September 11, 2014, the Missouri House joined the Missouri Senate in overriding Governor Nixon's veto. 

It seems better than even odds that Missouri will be joining the permitless or "Constitutional" carry club this year.  Enactment of SB 656 will increase the "Constitutional" carry club to 11, including three other states, Idaho, Mississippi and West Virginia that have passed similar legislation this year.

The other "Constitutional" carry states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Maine, Vermont, and Wyoming.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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