Post by Logan on Feb 10, 2016 5:04:37 GMT -6
Missouri Supreme Court says Amendment 5 did not extend gun rights to non-violent felons
ST. LOUIS • A state constitutional amendment on the right to bear firearms does not allow nonviolent felons to carry guns, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in a set of opinions announced Tuesday.
The two 5-2 decisions, written by Judge Laura Denvir Stith, reversed lower court rulings from St. Louis that had thrown out the convictions of three men based on the Aug. 5, 2014, passage of Amendment 5. It declared the right to keep and bear arms “unalienable” and subjected laws restricting gun rights to “strict scrutiny.”
Validity of the prohibition on violent felons was never in dispute.
But the lower court rulings had created fear among prosecutors that they would no longer be able to charge nonviolent felons for having guns. The high court ruling said the amendment does not put that law in jeopardy.
Read more: www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/missouri-supreme-court-says-amendment-did-not-extend-gun-rights/article_36f25f2a-28c8-549e-9bc9-4fee45854bfb.html
ST. LOUIS • A state constitutional amendment on the right to bear firearms does not allow nonviolent felons to carry guns, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in a set of opinions announced Tuesday.
The two 5-2 decisions, written by Judge Laura Denvir Stith, reversed lower court rulings from St. Louis that had thrown out the convictions of three men based on the Aug. 5, 2014, passage of Amendment 5. It declared the right to keep and bear arms “unalienable” and subjected laws restricting gun rights to “strict scrutiny.”
Validity of the prohibition on violent felons was never in dispute.
But the lower court rulings had created fear among prosecutors that they would no longer be able to charge nonviolent felons for having guns. The high court ruling said the amendment does not put that law in jeopardy.
Read more: www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/missouri-supreme-court-says-amendment-did-not-extend-gun-rights/article_36f25f2a-28c8-549e-9bc9-4fee45854bfb.html