T.Mike Curry Weblog

Mo House and Senate? Nobody Seems to Know... But You Should

What's the Missouri House and Senate doing? Nobody seems to know... but you should. The state and local levels of government are the two places individual citizens can have the most influence. Yet, so few people do. Often it seems like the vast majority of people don't even know what their representatives are doing, let alone do they ever participate or get involved.

Fortunately there's an easy way to get started. All those bills they're working on are available online. You can look at them. You can read them. You can see where they are today, how they've been evolving and changing, and when the next hearing will be for a given bill. Really, you can.

Try going here...

Missouri House of Representatives Bill Information

Start with the bill list. It's a bit unruly, but it will get you started. Find one that looks intrigueing and click on the link. Take House Bill 282 for instance. This bill creates the crime of motorcycle stunt driving. Sounds odd, let's click on it. Oops, there's two links there actually. The first one takes you to the bill's status. The second one takes you to the House member page of the person who is sponsoring the bill and lists a lot of information, including a House email address for the sponsor (keep that in mind for later).

Back on the bill status page, you can find out what actions have been taken on this bill, hearing dates, where it is on the House calendar, fiscal notes, and more. There's even a link for the text of the bill. Click on the link under "Bill Text for HB282". There, you can actually read the text of the bill they are working on.

Finished reading it? Are you asking yourself, "Why?". Why do we need a law for this? Okay, let's say someone does a short little wheelie out on some county back-road. Let's say nobody gets hurt and no property is damaged. Unfortunately this person is now guilty of a class C criminal misdemeanor. Do it again and it's a class A misdemeanor. Do it a third time, and guess what budy, you're a felon!

Does this sound like a useless law for a victim-less crime to you? Does it sound like a great way to divert the efforts of law enforcement away from more important tasks like catching murderers? Or does this sound like something you really want to see become law? Either way, remember that link to the sponsors House email address? Go on. Click on it. Now that you know what they're doing and what the text of the bill says and means, let the sponsor know what you think of their bill.

But don't stop there. Go back to the main House page. Look on the right, down just a little. See that box labelled "Legislator Look-Up"? All you need to do is enter your zip code and click the Go button. It'll list your Senators, your Representatives, your Congressman, and more.

And by the way, you can find the same type of information for the Missouri Senate as well.

So go ahead. Find out what they're up to. Let them know what you think. You should.

( Feb 09 2007, 06:41:16 PM CST ) Permalink

The Right to Defend Yourself in Missouri May Take a Step Forward

Missouri House Bill 189 was introduced by Representative Kenneth Jones (District 117) and had its first hearing on February 7th in the Missouri House Special Committee on General Laws. This bill is intended to amend RSMo Chapter 563, the section of Missouri law covering the use of deadly force.

In essence, this bill sets forth four changes to the current self-defense law. First, it defines the conditions under which a person can be presumed to be in fear for their life by death or great bodily harm. Second, it places into Missouri law that a law-abiding person, in a place where they have a legal right to be, is not required to first retreat. Third, it defines that a person under these conditions is assumed justified in their act of self defense, i.e.- the burden of proof in a court of law would shift from the defendant to the prosecution. Thus, it would be up to the prosecution to prove the person was not justified in using lethal force in self defense, as opposed to the current situation of the defendant having to prove they were justified in defending their life. Fourth, it clarifies that a person found legally justified in their act of self-defense is immune to criminal prosecution and civil law suits.

Under current Missouri law there is no definitive answer to the retreat or no-retreat question. Some States define that a person must first attempt to retreat ("Duty to Retreat"). Others define that a person is not required to retreat while in their home, occupied vehicle, or place of business ("Castle Doctrine"). Some States even define that a person is not required to retreat in the face of a lethal threat at all ("Stand Your Ground"). HB189 sets a "Castle Doctrine" definition for Missouri law.

It is worth noting that "criminal prosecution" includes arrest, as well as being charged with offenses related to the actions a person may have taken while defending their life. For example, if a person lawfully uses a firearm for self-defense, it is currently possible they could be additionally charged with brandishing a firearm, discharging a firearm, public endangerment, and other similar type charges. HB189 would remove the possibility of such add-on legal perils.

What may prove most beneficial from passage of this bill however, is the immunity from civil law suit. Part of the aim of HB189 is to prevent people found justified in their self-defense from being ruined by costly civil suits.

Currently this bill seems to have large body of support in the Missouri House. This is a good thing for Missouri's 2nd Amendment rights. Allowing people to defend themselves, with lethal force if necessary, is one of the corner-stones of an independent, free, and civil society. If a person be restricted from defending their own person, they either become dependant on the grace of government to protect them at best, or they become permanent and perpetual victims at worst.


For those who are interested, the status of Mo HB189 is available on the Missouri House web site. Full text of HB189 can be read here. ( Feb 09 2007, 03:14:21 AM CST ) Permalink