Missouri Lawmaker Introduces Bill Requiring Many Adult Missourians To Own An AR-15
A Missouri lawmaker has introduced two companion bills to the legislature, each requiring many Missourians to own one — or more — specific guns, KFVS-TV (Cape Girardeau) is reporting.
Andrew McDaniel, of Deering, actually introduced his two bills in late February, but they are only now being noticed by the media.
The first of his two bills, filed February 25, is HB 1052. Called the “McDaniel Second Amendment Act,” it would require all residents of the Show Me State who are legally allowed to own a handgun — and who are aged 21 and older — to purchase and keep one. The bill also provides a tax credit that can be used towards the purchase of a gun.
A second bill, filed February 27, is HB 1108. Called the “McDaniel Militia Act,” it would require every Missouri resident between 18 and 34 years of age to own at least one AR-15 — with exceptions for those who are legally forbidden from owning one. The bill defines an AR-15 as “any semi-automatic rifle that is modeled on the AR-15 rifle design by AramLite [sic], Inc.” That bill also offers a tax credit for the purchase of the gun, in this case for up to 75 percent of the cost of the weapon.
Missouri bill would require adults aged 18-34 to own AR-15. House Bill No. 1108, sponsored by Rep. Andrew McDaniel, R-Deering, stated that "[e]very resident of this state shall own at least one AR-15."https://t.co/6llUlM1eEm pic.twitter.com/54F2MzUimZ
— KOKH FOX 25 (@OKCFOX) March 15, 2019
Riverfront Times writer Danny Wicentowski did the math, and figured that, assuming national gun-ownership rates apply equally to Missouri — that is, that approximately 20 to 30 percent of adults own guns — the handgun bill would require 3.6 million Missourians (excluding felons) who don’t already own one to purchase a handgun. The AR-15 bill would require approximately 1 million Missouri residents to purchase one.
Neither bill spells out penalties for Missouri residents within the specified age ranges who decline to purchase the required firearms.
According to the Missouri House of Representatives‘ website, neither bill has been scheduled for a committee hearing, as of this writing. Whether or not one or both bills will be scheduled for a committee hearing and/or a vote on the House floor remains unclear.
Missouri would not be the first jurisdiction to require its residents to own firearms, should either or both bills pass. As AOL News reported in 2016, at the time at least five U.S. towns and cities had laws requiring residents to own guns.
Virgin, Utah, for example, passed such an ordinance in 2000 — a move that was largely unnecessary, because the overwhelming majority of its residents owned guns anyway. Gun Barrel City, Texas; Kennesaw, Georgia; Nelson, Georgia; and Nucla, Colorado have also all passed laws mandating gun ownership. AOL notes that Nucla does not actually enforce its gun-ownership mandate. It’s unclear if, or how, the other cities do.
