Missouri has relatively strong laws to disarm hate, since it classifies most violent hate crimes as firearm-prohibiting felonies.
Access to Guns for People Convicted of Hate Crimes in Missouri
| Violence with Severe Bodily Injury | Violence with Bodily Injury | Other Crimes Involving Intentional Use of Force | Threats with Deadly Weapons | Other Credible Threats to Physical Safety | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Law | Very limited or no access | Very limited or no access | Very limited or no access | Very limited or no access | Very limited or no access |
| State Law | Very limited or no access | Very limited or no access | Very limited or no access | Very limited or no access | Very limited or no access |
Missouri’s hate crime sentencing enhancement statute provides enhanced penalties for certain offenses that were “knowingly motivated” by animus toward the “race, color, religion, origin, sex, sexual orientation or disability of the victim or victims.”1) This statute has the effect of reclassifying some misdemeanors, including certain assault offenses, as felonies when they are perpetrated as hate crimes.2 (Ethnicity, gender, and gender identity are not included as protected categories in Missouri).
Like federal law,3 Missouri generally prohibits people from accessing firearms if they have been convicted of a felony.4 Missouri does not restrict people convicted of violent misdemeanors from accessing firearms for any period of time, and also does not make misdemeanors punishable by a term long enough to trigger federal firearm restrictions.5 As a result, people convicted of violent hate crimes are generally only prohibited from accessing firearms in Missouri, under state and federal law, if they have been convicted of felonies.
However, Missouri law authorizes prosecutors to charge most violent hate crime offenses as felonies, including assaults involving threats or bodily injury,6 stalking involving threats of violence,7 unlawfully carrying or brandishing a firearm in a threatening manner,8 and other criminal threats of violence and harassment.9
As a result, people convicted of violent hate crimes in Missouri are generally prohibited from accessing firearms under both state and federal law.
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- Mo. Ann. Stat. § 557.035; State v. Callen, 97 S.W.3d 105, 109 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002[↩]
- Assault in the fourth degree, for instance, is typically a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison, Mo. Ann. Stat. § 558.011(1), but is classified as a class E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, when the offense was a hate crime. Mo. Ann. Stat. § 565.056; Mo. Ann. Stat. § 557.035.1(2).[↩]
- Federal law generally prohibits people from accessing firearms if they have been convicted of a felony punishable by more than one year in prison or a state law misdemeanor offense punishable by more than two years. 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1); 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20)(B).[↩]
- Mo. Ann. Stat. § 571.070.1(1).[↩]
- Id.; Mo. Ann. Stat. § 558.011.[↩]
- Mo. Ann. Stat. § 565.056 (“Assault in the fourth degree”); Mo. Ann. Stat. § 557.035.1(2). See also, e.g., Mo. Ann. Stat. §§ 565.050 – 565.054[↩]
- Mo. Ann. Stat. § 565.225(2)(1) (“Stalking in the first degree”).[↩]
- Mo. Ann. Stat. §§ 571.030(1)(4), 557.035(1).[↩]
- Mo. Ann. Stat. §§ 574.115 – 574.120 (felony “Terrorist threats”); 565.090 (felony “Harassment”).[↩]