Missouri voters will be presented with five – count ‘em, five – proposed amendments for the state constitution when they go to the polls in early August.
Three of the amendments deal with individual rights: to own guns, to farm, and to have electronic communications protected from unreasonable searches and seizures.
The other two proposed constitutional changes deal with a “temporary” tax increase for roads and creating a new lottery ticket to fund services and projects for military veterans.
The most controversial amendment will likely be the one to strengthen Missouri’s gun ownership rights.
While Missourians, like all Americans, already have a constitutional right to bear arms, the proposed amendment “would change the wording to say citizens have the right to ‘keep and bear arms, ammunition, and accessories typical to the normal function of such arms,’” Lake News Online reports.
The news site continues:
The amendment would also clarify that citizens could use those arms to defend their families. Currently, the constitution reads that citizens can use arms in the defense of home, person, or property, but does not specifically include family.
The amendment goes on to spell out that the gun rights would be “unalienable.”
“Any restriction on these rights shall be subject to strict scrutiny and the state of Missouri shall be obligated to uphold these rights and shall under no circumstances decline to protect against their infringement,” the amendment reads.
However, the amendment would allow lawmakers to “limit the rights of convicted violent felons or those adjudicated by a court to be a danger to self or others as result of a mental disorder or mental infirmity.”
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