By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Missouri's new concealed carry gun law will NOT go into effect Saturday as planned. Friday afternoon, St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer granted a preliminary injunction, citing a provision in the Missouri Constitution that plaintiffs in the case say prohibits concealed firearms.
Republican state representative Larry Crawford, who sponsored the original concealed weapons bill, says the judge's reasoning is faulty, "The article 1, Section 23, I thought was the weak part of the case because it has not prevailed in other states. Very similar, the same language, has not prevailed in other states."
Judge Ohmer ordered the plaintiffs, mostly elected officials from the St. Louis area, to post 250-thousand dollars bond, in case the defendants want to seek damages. One of those plaintiffs, St. Louis alderwoman Lyda Krewson, says she'll mortgage her house to come up with the cash.
Attorney General Jay Nixon appealed the Judge Ohmer's ruling, but the Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis Friday night denied a request to overturn the order delaying the start of a concealed guns law. Nixon then took the appeal to the state supreme court but the court's counsel said justices would not hear the case Friday night.