JEFFERSON CITY — Students at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School made the trip west to the state Capitol on Tuesday to push for tighter gun laws, recounting the school shooting on their campus in October that left a teacher and student dead.
“I should be worried about moving off to college, worrying about what I’ll wear to prom, worrying about who I’ll give my graduation tickets to — not how to make the voices of the dead heard,†said Bryanna Love, a 17-year-old student at the school.
Flanked by about 50 fellow students, Love said loopholes in state law allowed Orlando Harris, the 19-year-old shooter, to possess the gun he used to kill Jean Kuczka, 61, a mother of five who taught health and physical education, and sophomore Alexzandria Bell, 15, who loved art and dance.
Nine days before the shooting, Harris’ mother asked police for help removing the AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting from Harris, but police said he was legally entitled to carry the gun.
People are also reading…
While a third person known to the family took possession of the gun, police said Harris eventually used it in the shooting and authorities did not initially know how Harris regained possession. In the months before the shooting, the shooter’s family sought mental health care for him.
“He struggled with mental illness, he was a danger to himself and others, yet due to legal loopholes, they were unable to ... remove the gun from his possession,†Love said.
The students were introduced by Rep. Peter Merideth, a ºüÀêÊÓƵ Democrat whose legislation would allow police to petition a court for a “risk protection order†to remove firearms from someone deemed a danger to themselves or others.
Merideth, later speaking on the floor of the House, recounted how his relatives attended the “amazing†school. His niece is a teacher there.
“All of them were forever changed,†Merideth said. “They are survivors.â€
Merideth urged lawmakers to take action on laws that could have stopped the shooter from obtaining a firearm.
“They don’t want more thoughts and prayers. They want action. They don’t want silence. They want to be heard,†Merideth said.
The GOP-controlled House hasn’t shown an interest in taking up the risk protection order bill, or in prohibiting the sale of semi-automatic weapons to individuals younger than 21.
House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, has not referred the legislation to a committee, the usual first step for viable proposals.
The House has approved legislation to appoint a special prosecutor for ºüÀêÊÓƵ violent crimes.
One firearm restriction attached to that legislation would limit shooting off firearms within city limits, in response to concerns over celebratory gunfire in cities.
Another restriction had been attached to the bill, but didn’t survive a House committee: a measure that would have prohibited unsupervised minors from possessing guns in public, with an exception for legal hunting, by adding the activity to the list of unlawful possession of a firearm offenses.
The legislation is , and .