Less than a week after a mass shooting in Kansas City during a Super Bowl celebration parade, Missouri’s Republican-led House has passed a new piece of gun control legislation. According to The Associated Press, in a bipartisan effort, lawmakers passed a ban on celebratory gunfire in cities, Monday, Feb. 19.
However, Kansas City Police said that the bullets that rained down Wednesday, Feb. 14, were not related to any act of celebration.
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“This appears to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire,” Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said.
Law enforcement said that a 43-year-old woman died and at least 22 others were injured as shots rang out near the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade. Two juveniles were arrested in connection with the shooting.
When it comes to gun laws, Missouri has fewer restrictions than other states, CNN found. There have been 155 mass shootings in the state since 2013.
According to the gun control group Everytown Gun Safety, Missouri ranks 38th when it comes to what it calls gun law strength.
State lawmakers passed the ban on celebratory gunfire with a vote of 120-26. The measure is named after 11-year-old Blair Shanahan Lane, who died after a stray bullet hit her in the neck while she was at her uncle’s Fourth of July celebration in 2011.
Authorities said that Aaron Sullivan later admitted that he and his friends fired dozens of rounds from a pistol at an apartment complex near the little girl’s home, with one bullet hitting Lane.
The law in Missouri would make shooting in a celebratory fashion within city limits a misdemeanor for the first offense, with felony charges for subsequent offenses.
In 2023, the Missouri Legislature passed a Senate bill cracking down on celebratory gunfire. However, Gov. Mike Parson, R, vetoed the bill, citing issues with other crime provisions in the bill unrelated to the ban, according to KOMU.
The Kansas City Beacon reported that gunfire after big events is only increasing in Kansas City. When the Chiefs won the divisional round playoff game in 2023, Kansas City Police said ShotSpotter, a device which detects gunfire, recorded 33 rounds fired. After the Chiefs won the AFC Championship game, the numbers rose to 102 rounds. In 2024, after the Chiefs won the AFC Championship game, 130 rounds were detected by ShotSpotter.
