Mo. Bill Would Make it Illegal to Propose Gun Control

A Missouri House Republican yesterday proposed a bill that would make it a crime, punishable by up to four years in prison, for lawmakers to propose gun control measures. Mike Leara's HB633 "specifies that any member of the general assembly who proposes legislation that further restricts an individual's right to bear arms will be guilty of a class D felony," according to the House website. Leara proposed the bill less than a week after a Democrat introduced a bill banning assault weapons, the News-Leader reports.

ThinkProgress points out that the bill seems to violate both the Missouri Constitution and the US Constitution, and Comedy Central describes the bill as "a scenario in which the 2nd Amendment took the 1st Amendment aside and fired round after round of hollow point bullets into its lifeless body." But, the AP notes, Leara himself has said he doesn't expect the bill to pass, and introduced it only as a matter of principle. (More Missouri stories.)