Missouri – On Tuesday, July 9, 2024, Governor Parson signed multiple bills into law. The signing of these bills includes an expansive crime law and several measures that have been advocated to implement for many years like Max’s Law and Blair’s Law.
Under Blair’s Law, it is now illegal to recklessly shoot a gun within any Missouri city limits, and also makes celebratory gunfire illegal. Penalties for breaking this law can range from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony, seven years in prison, and a fine of $2,000 to $10,000. Blair’s Law was named after and first brought into consideration following the death of 11-year-old Blair DeMoss, who was struck and killed by a bullet fired by someone across a lake while celebrating Independence Day. Blair’s Law was vetoed last year because of an unrelated provision that would have had the state compensate individuals who were wrongly accused.
Max’s Law has increased the punishment an individual will receive if they were to kill or harm a police K-9 in the line of duty. Under Missouri’s current law, police dogs are considered property so if one were hurt or killed the individual was just charged with property damage. This only gave the individual up to 15 days in jail and a fine of $700. With the new law killing or harming a police dog will get an individual a felony charge with up to 7 years in prison and a fine of $10,000. This law is named after St. Joseph Officer Lucas Winder’s former K-9 companion, Max. Max was killed in the line of duty while he and Winder were present at a standoff with a subject who barricaded themself in a residence in 2021. Winder reported that the subject had come out of the house and attempted to ambush the officer, but Max had stepped in to stop them and lost his life in the process.
These are just two of multiple bills that were signed by the Governor on July 9, 2024.
