JEFFERSON CITY — Calls for changing Missouri’s wide-open gun laws fell along a predictable partisan divide in the wake of the nation’s latest school shooting incident at a St. Louis high school Monday.
While Republicans who favor keeping the state’s permissive gun laws intact offered prayers for the students, staff and families at Central and Collegiate high schools, Democratic elected officials called for toughening the state’s loose firearms regulations.
Police say 19-year-old Orlando Harris, who graduated from Central last year, fatally shot student Alexzandria Bell, 15, and teacher Jean Kuczka, 61. His gun reportedly jammed, giving some students time to take shelter and escape, and police ultimately shot and killed him.
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St. Louis Interim Police Chief Michael Sack gives a briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, about what kind of weapon was used in the school shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts, and a note that the gunman left behind.
Among those urging action was Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis.
“As legislators, we have a responsibility to stop perpetuating the policies that enable violent offenders to have unfettered access to firearms and ammunition,†said Bosley, who has advocated for the licensing of vendors who sell bullets.
Democrats, however, are the minority party in both the House and Senate, giving Republicans the power to keep gun control measures off the agenda in the Capitol.
GOP lawmakers have a reliable ally in Gov. Mike Parson, a former county sheriff who, as a senator, sponsored legislation expanding the rights of people to use deadly force in defense of their own property.
Parson is tentatively scheduled to go to St. Louis on Thursday to meet and thank police who were involved in Tuesday’s shooting. A spokeswoman said he spoke with city officials and local lawmakers in the wake of the attack on Monday.
Guns are baked into Republican Party politics in Missouri, with candidates routinely raffling off firearms as part of their fundraising operations.
In 2016, lawmakers all but erased most gun control efforts by legalizing the concealed carry of a weapon without a permit. In doing so, they also removed requirements for gun safety training classes and criminal background checks.
In June, Parson signaled he wasn’t in favor of a federal grant program that would help states enforce or enact “red flag†laws that let police get court orders in order to temporarily take guns from people deemed dangerous.
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have such statutes, but Missouri is not one of them.
“I just don’t want them tying my hands on what we do here in Missouri,†Parson told the Post-Dispatch at the time.
In 2020, Parson also outlined his opposition to the concept, saying he did not support taking away guns from domestic abusers because it would infringe on an individual’s rights under the Second Amendment.
Parson also backed the state’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, which he signed into law at a Lee’s Summit gun store in 2021.
Under the act, any law that prohibits a “law-abiding citizen†from possessing and using a gun is an infringement on their rights, and any federal law will not be recognized or enforced in Missouri. The law defines a “law-abiding citizen†as anyone who is not prohibited from having guns under state laws.
Although SAPA is being challenged in court, its existence signals how the Republican-controlled state House and Senate will likely react to any federal firearms mandates.
Democrats, however, are vowing to keep the shooting at the forefront when they return for their regular session in January.
Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, said the Legislature must act.
“We must pass laws that will prevent tragedies like today, not enable or exacerbate them,†Aldridge said.Â
Interim Police Commissioner Michael Sack gives the timeline of the school shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and identifies Orlando Harris as the gunman on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022.
Photos: Prayers said, memorial grows as St. Louis reacts to school shooting

Members of the group Pray for the Lou place hands on the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School building as they pray at the site of Monday's school shooting, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.

St. Louis Public Schools Director of Security DeAndre Davis fights back tears as SLPS captain Misty Dobynes holds hands with Central Visual and Performing Arts High School Principal Kacy Seals-Shahid, during a press conference about Monday’s school shooting, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at the SLPS headquarters downtown.

St. Louis Public Schools Director of Security DeAndre Davis fights back tears during a press conference about Monday's school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at the Board of Education downtown. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

"It's got to change...that find a way to get this weapons of war off of the streets and for the love of God out of our schools ," said St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education President Matt Davis, who fights back tears talking about Monday's school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at the Board of Education downtown. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience High School sophomores Brady Grossman, left, and Xavier LaPorte present a "Thank You" cake to St. Louis police Capts. Latricia Allen and Mike Mueller at South Patrol headquarters on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. The students brought the cake to the police to thank them for their quick response to the shooting at their school on Monday. Capt. Mueller was among the a team of officers who entered the school and exchanged gunfire with the shooter to end the threat. While evacuating the building after the shooting, Brady passed by the body of Alexzandria Bell, the student who was killed in the shooting.

A photo of Alexzandria Bell, 15, rests at the scene of a growing floral memorial to the victims of Monday’s school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. Alexzandria and teacher Jean Kuczka were killed, along with gunman Orlando Harris, in Monday’s shooting. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Tiago DeShields, 6, looks over a photo of Alexzandria Bell, 15, who was killed in Monday morning's school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. Tiago joined his family and about 25 others with the group ‘Pray for the Lou' at the growing memorial for Bell and teacher Jean Kuczka. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

A St. Louis police officer joins a neighbor in prayer after laying flowers at a growing memorial to Central Visual & Performing Arts High School student Alexzandria Bell, 15, and teacher Jean Kuczka on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 following Monday's shooting by suspect Orlando Harris. Harris, 20, was killed by police minutes after he entered the building. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

A memorial to Central Visual and Performing Arts High School student Alexzandria Bell, 15, and teacher Jean Kuczka grows on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, after a shooting at the school the day before.

Melissa and Greg Morrison pray with Tiago DeShields and his brother Hugo DeShields during a meeting of the group ‘Pray for the Lou' outside Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. Kurt Wilson, right, led prayer beside about 25 people for student Alexzandria Bell and teacher Jean Kuczka, who died in Monday's shooting. The suspect, Orlando Harris, was killed by police. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Kurt Wilson of Jefferson County, leads prayer with the group ‘Pray for the Lou' outside Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 following Monday's killing of a student and teacher. “When something happens in a certain part of St. Louis, people think nobody cares,” said Wilson, who heads weekly prayer marches in the city. “We don't go to the school where you do and we don't go where you go, but we're one city.” Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

The first floor of Central Visual & Performing Arts High School is seen through the south entry doors on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 following Monday's killing of a student and teacher. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

An open door on the first floor of Central Visual & Performing Arts High School is seen through the south entry doors on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 following Monday's killing of a student and teacher.Â

Melissa Morrison of Gateway Legacy Christian Academy holds Tiago DeShields, 6, during a meeting of the group ‘Pray for the Lou' outside Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. Tiago's father Kenny DeShields leads the prayer of about 25 people for student Alexzandria Bell and teacher Jean Kuczka, who died in Monday's shooting. The suspect, Orlando Harris, was killed by police. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Kurt Wilson of Jefferson County, leads prayer with the group ‘Pray for the Lou' outside Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 following Monday's killing of a student and teacher. “When something happens in a certain part of St. Louis, people think nobody cares,” said Wilson, who heads weekly prayer marches in the city. “We don't go to the school where you do and we don't go where you go, but we're one city.” Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis Police interim Chief Michael Sack steps away from the podium to show the AR-15-style weapon used Monday by a gunman at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School.Â

St. Louis Police Interim Police Chief Michael Sack tells the press the shooter used a AR-15-style rifle and had nearly 600 rounds of ammunitions during Monday's school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, while speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at Police Headquarters. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Mayor Tishaura Jones listens as St. Louis Police Interim Police Chief Michael Sack updates the press on Monday's school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at Police Headquarters. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Teacher Rachel Phillippe, left, and her mother, Cara Phillippe, stop by a growing memorial on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, outside Central Visual and Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience high schools, where student Alexzandria Bell, 15, and teacher Jean Kuczka were shot and killed on Monday. Rachel Phillippe has worked at the school as a music teacher for three years and was in class when the shooting happened.

Director of Safety and Security for St. Louis Public Schools DeAndre Davis updates the press on Monday's school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at Police Headquarters. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com