Missouri Votes to Keep Its Concealed Weapon Ban

Despite a $3.7-million campaign by the National Rifle Assn., Missouri’s residents have decided to keep the state’s outlaw-era ban on carrying concealed weapons.

With 99% of votes counted by Wednesday, Proposition B, which would have lifted the ban, had failed, 52% to 48%, or 674,378 votes to 625,689 votes.

Opponents said voters weren’t swayed by the gun lobby’s pitch.

“Missourians have said they just do not want guns carried into football games and bars and schools,” said Harry Wiggins, a state senator from Kansas City who opposed the measure.

The referendum Tuesday was the first time a state had put the question of concealed weapons before voters. Thirty-one other states allow citizens to carry concealed guns, but those measures were enacted by legislators.

Missouri banned concealed weapons in a crackdown on gunslinging in 1875, when notorious bandit Jesse James was still at large. He was shot to death seven years later in St. Joseph by a member of his gang.

Supporters said allowing law-abiding people to pack guns would keep the criminals guessing.

Critics said Proposition B would simply put more guns on the streets and lead to more firearm violence.

Although the measure was approved in 91 mostly rural counties, it failed by wide margins in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Opponents included First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gov. Mel Carnahan, top law enforcement officers and the editorial pages of leading newspapers in the state.