JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Legislation is moving forward inside the Missouri Capitol that would impose tougher penalties for people who fire celebratory gunshots.
Back in 2011, bullets fired on July 4, killing 11-year-old Blair Shanahan Lane. Since then, Blair’s mom, Michele Shanahan DeMoss, has been coming to Jefferson City to ask lawmakers to strengthen the state’s law. Nearly 13 years later, the Senate approved the legislation Thursday.
“Blair’s Law is intended to close that loophole when someone is acting recklessly and shooting a firearm discriminately in the air and then it results in a death of another person,” Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer said.
After years of pleading for tougher laws, Michele thought the fight was over last summer, until she received a phone call from Luetkemeyer.
“I had to have that conversation with her that the bill was being vetoed,” Luetkemeyer said. “That was a very tough conversation because we learned about the veto on July 3, which was the day before her daughter’s death; she died July 4 several years prior.”
Gov. Mike Parson announced in July that he was vetoing a large crime bill that included Blair’s Law. Parson said in an interview following the veto that it wasn’t Blair’s law he didn’t agree with; instead, he disliked a provision regarding restitution.
“I committed to her at that point that one of the first priorities we were going to get out of the judiciary committee is a bill that contains Blair’s Law,” Luetkemeyer said. “As it happened, it was the second bill out of the Senate this session.”
Blair’s mom watched as her 11-year-old daughter was killed by a stray bullet in Kansas City back in 2011. She said the bullet traveled three football fields and hit Blair on the next. Four men were later arrested and charged with shooting a pistol recklessly into a nearby lake. Aaron Sullivan, 50, served a short prison sentence after being charged with manslaughter.
Under Blair’s Law, it will be a crime of unlawful discharge of a firearm to shoot a gun with criminal negligence within a city’s limits. The provision is one of many in Luetkemeyer’s large crime package, Senate Bill 754.
Another provision increases the penalty for people who are convicted of assaulting a police dog. The measure is known as “Max’s Law” after the killing of a St. Joseph police K-9 who died in the line of duty.
Under Max’s Law, the penalty for assaulting a police animal would increase from a class C misdemeanor to a class A misdemeanor. If the animal is in need of veterinary care, a person would be guilty of a class E felony, meaning imprisonment for up to four years. If the animal dies, a person could be guilty of a class D felony, meaning up to seven years in prison.
Some stood up on the floor before the vote, saying these penalties go too far.
“The folks defending themselves could be charged and convicted as a felony, which is not something that should be taken lightly,” Sen. Mike Room, R-Ash Grove, said. “There was no interest in reducing the penalties and therefore I’m totally against this bill and I hope the governor sees good reason to veto again.”
The legislation also includes a measure to raise the minimum age to be tried as an adult from 12 to 14. Luetkemeyer said this provision is in the bill because some juveniles don’t understand the nature of what they are doing.
“For cases involving dangerous felonies, those cases involving homicides, some other type of crime against a person, those individuals can still be tried as an adult at the younger age,” Luetkemeyer said.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, voted for the overall bill but wasn’t a fan of the raise the age measure.
“There are still some people that don’t believe a 14-year-old, and I’m probably in that camp, should be tried as an adult,” said Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence. “In a world where we’re in the super minority, it’s difficult to get to what I would call a reasonable age.”
The bill also includes a provision called “Valentine’s Law,” named after St. Louis County Police Detective Antonio Valentine, who was killed in December 2021 in a police pursuit when a man driving a stolen car and fleeing police struck his car head-on.
The law, new to the crime bill this year, would make it a felony to flee from police while committing a crime.
“We know that these high-speed car chases are incredibly dangerous, not only to the officers but to the public at large,” Luetkemeyer said. “This makes sure we are tampering down on that type of conduct.”
Six Democrats joined 17 Republicans in voting in favor of the bill. The legislation now heads to the House, where representatives passed a similar version of the bill earlier this year.
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