United States | News & Politics

This is the best summary I could come up with:

(AP) — Missouri’s Republican-led House on Wednesday voted against banning minors from openly carrying firearms on public land without adult supervision.

Democratic Rep. Donna Baringer said police in her district asked for the change to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St. Louis carrying AR-15s.”

Republican Rep. Lane Roberts —- a former Joplin, Missouri police chief and state public safety director — initially included the restrictions on children possessing guns in a broader crime bill, which the House voted to give initial approval to later Wednesday.

“Every time we talked about the provision related to guns, we knew that that was going to be difficult on our side of the aisle,” Roberts said Wednesday.

Republican lawmakers for years have criticized Gardner, a 47-year-old Democrat first elected in 2016 as St. Louis’ first Black female prosecutor.

She is one of several progressive prosecutors elected in recent years with a focus on creating more fairness in the criminal justice system.

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