Missouri Democrats Cry Foul as Governor Addresses Crime Without Gun Control

Given the pro-2A majorities in Missouri’s House and Senate, there’s virtually no chance that the scant number of Democrats elected to the legislature are going to be able to pass their extensive gun control agenda. The big question this year is what, if any, bills strengthening the right to keep and bear arms will make it to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s desk. 

Stil, that’s not stopping some Kansas City and St. Louis-area lawmakers from complaining about Kehoe’s plan to address violent crime and its lack of anti-gun initiatives. 

“They have found a way to talk about almost everything except firearms,” Rep. Mark Sharp, a Kansas City Democrat, said. “That took some talent.”

The stakes are high for Kansas City. Political, civic and business leaders are especially tuned in to finding effective ways to combat crime, especially violent crime, as the region prepares for the global spotlight when it hosts World Cup matches in 2026, a weeks-long event that will draw hundreds of thousands of visitors.

While homicides in Kansas City fell in 2024 after a record high the year before, nonfatal shootings rose 12%. More than 500 people were shot in the city and 147 were killed. The city also endured the mass shooting after the Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally last February that left one person dead and dozens injured. 

And just like in every other U.S. city, the vast majority of those violent crimes are committed by a very small number of Kansas City residents, most of whom are already known to law enforcement, prosecutors, and corrections officers. Creating a possessory crime out of our right to keep and bear arms isn’t going to address the issue or improve public safety. Instead, Kehoe wants to focus on improving resources for law enforcement and toughening up the penalties for many violent offenses. 

The governor’s State of the State address, delivered last week, provided for the first time a detailed look at his public safety agenda. Kehoe called for enhancing an existing law enforcement training scholarship program and $10 million in new funding to aid communities with public safety equipment and training. He requested dollars for a new crime lab in the southeastern corner of the state. 

Kehoe also wants the General Assembly to pass what he terms a “comprehensive crime bill” that will increase penalties for violent rioting and fleeing from law enforcement in a vehicle. He urged a crackdown on reckless stunt driving and street racing, as well as increased “oversight and accountability” of St. Louis police – a euphemism for state control.

Finally, Kehoe called for $4 million in funding to test wastewater in schools for the presence of fentanyl and stricter criminal penalties for fentanyl dealers. Individuals who sell fentanyl that kills a Missouri resident should face first-degree murder charges, he said.

“As I have said before, in the coming weeks, months, and years, our administration will be relentless in our pursuit to make Missouri a place where it’s easier to be a cop than a criminal,” Kehoe said during the speech.

In response to Democrats’ complaints, Kehoe’s office told the Kansas City Star that the governor “does not agree that addressing crime means further restricting the Constitutional rights of Missourians,” adding, “He believes those who commit crimes with firearms should be punished, not law-abiding Missourians.”

On the campaign trail last fall, Kehoe regularly exhorted our Second Amendment rights, at one point proclaiming, “every time we put more restrictions on a citizen’s Second Amendment rights, we actually hurt the citizens who are trying to do this law-abiding and legally.” 

The Star noted, however, that Kehoe didn’t call for any new protections for the Second Amendment in his State of the State speech last week, nor did he come out and endorse several bills that have already been introduced, including one measure in both the House and Senate that would repeal Missouri’s prohibition on lawful carry on public transit. 

I suspect that if that bill gets to his desk Kehoe will be more than happy to sign it into law. I’m also fairly confident that the Republican-controlled legislature will give him the vast majority of what he’s asking for when it comes to going after violent criminals. Again, the biggest question is whether House and Senate leaders will clear a path for those 2A-related bills to receive votes on the floor or if they’ll be bottled up in committee. It’d be great to see the governor apply some pressure to lawmakers, but in the meantime Missouri gun owners should be contacting their representatives and state senators and encouraging them to do away with some of the most egregious victim disarmament zones that are still in place.