10 February 2023 , 17:11
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A US state has voted against banning children from carrying guns in public.
A proposal went to the Republican-led house on Wednesday which sought to stop kids from walking down the street with firearms without adult supervision in Missouri.
The motion was rejected by 104-39 and saw just one Republican vote in support of the measure.
It was part of an hours-long debate on the best way to fight crime in St Louis.
Donna Baringer, a Democrat, revealed cops in her district had pleaded with her to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St Louis carrying AR-15s”.
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She said: "Now they have been emboldened, and they are walking around with them.
“Until they actually brandish them, and brandish them with intent, our police officers’ hands are handcuffed.”
Lawmakers in Missouri repealed hidden carry requirements in 2017.
The Republican Lane Roberts, a former 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.
The measure was part of an hours-long debate on the best way to fight crime (Getty Images)But lawmakers on a House committee that Mr Roberts leads stripped the provision on guns last week.
Mr Roberts said: "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."
Republicans said the effort to introduce the bill was an infringement on gun rights.
Tony Lovasco, a Republican from the St Louis suburb of O’Fallon, said: "While it may be intuitive that a 14-year-old has no legitimate purpose, it doesn’t actually mean that they’re going to harm someone.
"We don’t know that yet. Generally speaking, we don’t charge people with crimes because we think they’re going to hurt someone.”
Other provisions in the measure would allow the governor to appoint a special prosecutor in counties with high crime rates, a provision targeted at the St Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner.
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Republicans for years have criticised Gardner, a 47-year-old Democrat first elected in 2016 as St Louis’s 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.
Republicans say she is not doing enough to fight crime.