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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – After a violent weekend in St. Louis that left one teenager dead and 10 others injured, the state’s gun laws are in the spotlight. 

Back in 2016, the Missouri General Assembly reversed a state law to allow open carry, meaning conceal carry permits are no longer needed to possess a gun. While federal law has an age requirement to buy a firearm, Missouri doesn’t.

“The legislature’s lack of action on gun safety laws encourage the proliferation of guns in our streets and puts our responding officers directly in harm’s way,” St. Louis Mayor Tishuara Jones said Sunday. “This is a no-win situation.”

St. Louis City is in the headlines again for gun violence following a horrific scene in downtown early Sunday morning after gunfire broke out at a party.

“This is the first city and state that I’ve come to where a juvenile is not prohibited,” St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Tracy said. “It should at least mirror federal law. Let’s start there.”

What to know about Missouri’s gun laws

Police said 10 people were shot at a party on the fifth-floor of a building in the 1400 block of Washington Avenue.

Chief Tracy identified the victim killed at the party as 17-year-old Makao Moore. An eleventh victim, a 17-year-old female, was trampled while fleeing from the scene and suffered serious injuries to her spine, according to police.

The other victims’ suffered the following injuries:

19-year-old male shot in the arm, groin, and legs

19-year-old male shot in the back

18-year-old male shot in their left side

17-year-old male grazed by a bullet to the face and treated by paramedics at the scene

17-year-old female shot in the right thigh

16-year-old female shot in the leg

16-year-old female shot in the lower back

16-year-old female grazed by gunfire to the ankle

15-year-old female grazed by gunfire to their left side

During a news conference Sunday afternoon, city leaders decried the violence and said the tragic event never should have happened.

Democrats representing the city in Jefferson City are calling on the Republican super majority in the General Assembly for not taking action and strengthening the state’s gun laws soon.

“That has been the message of the GOP legislature for the last decade,” Rep. Peter Merideth, (D-St. Louis) said. “It’s been promoting gun ownership and carrying a gun everywhere you can.”

The other side of the aisle says everyone has a responsibility to try and address these problems.

“You can be a weak leader and blame the other political side, the other political party,” Rep. Justin Sparks (R-St. Louis County) said Monday. “I’m not saying my political party has all the answers and has done all the right things, because I don’t think we have.”

Sparks was with the St. Louis County Police Department for 15 years before becoming a lawmaker. His background is in special operations, and he became a sergeant with the special response unit and a deputy U.S. marshal in the Eastern District of Missouri. He said he spent a majority of his time in north St. Louis City.

“I think what happens in the City of St. Louis is important to the people who live out in my district,” Sparks said. “I think we have a responsibility to try and address the problems, but you have to start with the truth and the reality.”

Back in 2021, lawmakers approved the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” better known as SAPA, prohibiting police officers from enforcing federal gun laws and if they do, they could be fined up to $50,000.

“What they really mean is if a kid is just walking down the street carrying that gun, and you don’t know how he got it, the police can’t do anything about it,” Merideth said.

Merideth represents Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in the city, where last fall, a former student shot and killed a student and a teacher during a school shooting. Throughout this year’s session, Merideth invited students and teachers from CVPA to come down to the Capitol to tell their story on why the state needs stricter gun laws.

“I honestly was optimistic and maybe more than I should have been,” Merideth said. “In a state like Florida, it was a school shooting that managed to get common sense laws like a red flag law passed.”

Instead, Merideth said, the CVPA community was not given the chance by Republicans to tell their stories. Some GOP members saying they are ready to have that conversation with the other side of the aisle.

“Some folks want to draw that line at 21, some folks want to draw it at 18, and some folks want to draw it younger,” Sparks said. “I’m willing to have the conversation about drawing the line somewhere about where we as a legislature agree to draw the line.”

Missourians at any age can open carry, but under federal law, a person must be 21 to purchase a handgun and 18 to buy a rifle. Under the federal Youth Handgun Safety Act, anyone under 18 is prohibited from owning a handgun except in limited circumstances. Local government can limit where those firearms are allowed. Background checks are also federally required if a gun is purchased from a licensed dealer.

Merideth said, if Republicans don’t try strengthening Missouri’s gun laws, voters should take it into their own hands.

“That’s where the ballot initiative may come in, where voters can say, we all support this,” Merideth said. “There’s a huge majority that supports these commonsense gun laws, and maybe we need to pass them without Republican legislators getting in the way.”

Under state law, cities and local governments are allowed to regulate the open carrying of a firearm, meaning municipalities can require concealed carry permits, but many don’t because they are afraid of the legal action that could be brought against them.

Back in March, a federal judge ruled SAPA “unconstitutional,” saying state law cannot override federal rules. Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he plans to fight that decision by appealing. Dozens of agencies, including more than 60 police chiefs, spoke out in opposition to the law last year, saying it interferes with federal partners and the use of national databases and resources.

Police say the person of interest from Sunday morning’s shooting is also 17 years of age.

Anyone with additional information on the shooting is asked to call CrimeStoppers, where you can always remain anonymous, at 866-371-8477.

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