MO: St. Charles Republican pushes to allow weapons on public transit

A St. Charles lawmaker is taking his yearslong fight to allow concealed firearms on public transit to the Missouri Senate.

Sen. Adam Schnelting is sponsoring a bill that would allow passengers with a valid concealed carry permit to bring their weapon on vehicles and property owned or operated by a public transportation system.

The measure, mainly aimed at Bi-State Development’s MetroLink and MetroBus operations in the St. Louis area, was pushed unsuccessfully by Schnelting during his six years in the House.

Schnelting, a Republican elected to the Senate in November, said his bill is critical to keeping crime on public transit in check.

“We’ve been doing it their way for so long, and yet we still have a problem with crime, so it’s past time for us to do something about it,” he said.

Schnelting’s proposal has made headway with members of the state’s Republican supermajority but remains controversial. Last year, more than 300 people testified for or against the bill across several lengthy hearings.

After getting out of committee in 2024, Schnelting’s bill was nixed in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration.

Former Majority Floor Leader Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, said at the time, “Now is not the appropriate time to be taking up those bills, and therefore, they will not be brought up this session.” Schnelting called that decision “premature.”

This year, leadership in the House appears to be signaling support for Schnelting’s proposal. In a press conference last week, Patterson, who’s now the House speaker, said, “Protecting the Second Amendment and making sure that there is absolutely no erosion of our Second Amendment rights is a priority for House Republicans.”

Senate President Cindy O’Laughlin, R- Shelbina, said in a statement, “Our caucus is committed to protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens, including the right to bear arms.”

Still, Schnelting’s proposal is sure to face significant headwinds.

Taulby Roach, president and CEO of Bi-State Development, likens public transit to stadiums and airports — busy venues where people congregate and firearms are banned.

“We feel that concealed carry is not a reasonable assumption in a transit environment, just like it isn’t reasonable in a stadium or any really large crowd situation,” Roach said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch. He says Schnelting’s bill, if it becomes law, poses a risk to his public safety officers.

Sen. Brian Williams, D- University City, also strongly opposes Schnelting’s bill.

“Allowing guns on the MetroLink is a recipe for disaster,” Williams said. “I look forward to a spirited debate, but I can tell you right now, it’s going to be very difficult for that type of language to get through the Senate.”

Williams said if the bill were to make it to the Senate floor, he would lead a filibuster against it.

Quarterly MetroLink public safety reports appear to show crime rates on the light-rail system are dropping. There were 198 fewer incidents in the first half of 2024 than in the first half of 2023. The rate of violent crime on the MetroLink has fallen from two incidents for every 100,000 boardings in late 2023 to one incident for every 100,000 boardings in the first half of 2024.

The positive crime numbers haven’t moved Schnelting, he said, “because those (crime statistics) fluctuate from quarter to quarter.” He also said that hasn’t personally seen a significant reduction in crime.

Democrats in the past have been supportive of allowing concealed carry on public transit. Former Rep. Ed Schieffer of Troy proposed a bill similar to Schnelting’s in 2012.

It’s unclear how Schnelting’s bill would be implemented on MetroLink, which serves both sides of the Mississippi, because it remains illegal to carry concealed weapons on Illinois public transit. However, a federal judge ruled in September that the Illinois law violates the Second Amendment. The case is currently on appeal.

Schnelting’s bill is significantly pared back this year. Last year’s version allowed concealed carry in religious institutions and weakened the requirements to obtain a concealed carry permit.

With the support of O’Laughlin and Patterson, Schnelting is “cautiously optimistic” his bill will pass this year.

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