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The legislative session in Missouri is finally over. And after months of heated debates on guns, lawmakers have sent controversial bills to the governor that would dramatically change the concealed-carry permit application process -- and increase protections for gun owners.

That is, these bills make it easier for residents to get gun permits in the state and eliminate a major record-keeping component of the current process. The GOP is now celebrating these successful legislative feats, passed in the name of protecting the privacy of gun owners. As we've reported, critics say this pro-privacy agenda could actually make Missouri more vulnerable to fraud, terrorism and other criminal activity.

If the governor were to sign these bills, how would gun laws change in the state?

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Governor Jay Nixon.

The debate around the privacy of gun owners has dominated the legislature this session, with Republican lawmakers' persistent outcry regarding record-keeping in the state. The worry is that the Missouri license bureau, under the direction of Democratic Governor Jay Nixon, could be collecting and storing documents for some sort of gun registry -- and collaborating with the feds in the process.

A bit lost in the discussion, however, are concerns from critics of this Republican agenda who argue that efforts to ensure the privacy of gun owners could have serious public safety consequences. That is, that these reforms could make Missouri more vulnerable to fraud, terrorism and other security risks.

"What they're attempting to do here is protect, at all costs, concealed-carry," Democratic Representative Stacey Newman tells Daily RFT. And some national security experts say these privacy initiatives of the Missouri GOP could create obstacles for law enforcement.

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Sen. Kurt Schaefer.

Update below: Republican State Senator Kurt Schaefer is a big believer in the Second Amendment and has even proposed a constitutional amendment in Missouri that would make the right to bear arms even stronger. But that doesn't mean he's a huge fan of a pro-gun bill that has earned Missouri national attention: a proposal to block the enforcement of federal gun control in the state.

"You can't make a blanket statement that you are going to disregard all federal [gun-control] laws," Schaefer, a GOP senator from Columbia, tells Daily RFT. "Just because you have the right to bear arms...doesn't mean the government can't do anything."

Last week, the Missouri legislature sent the bill to block federal gun policies in the state to the governor's desk, and Schaefer -- like vocal Democrats in the state and across the country -- seems to think it's not the most logical idea at the capitol this session.

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Rep. Caleb Jones.

In the heat of legislative debates at the Capitol, Missouri lawmakers can sometimes get quite silly, but a joke about firearms yesterday was not received so warmly by some Democrats that favor gun control.

At the closing of a debate around a bill regarding sheriffs, Caleb Jones, a Republican representative in support of the measure said, "This is an important bill for those individuals who risk their lives to protect us."

Then, referencing a group of sheriffs in attendance, he added, "There are a few of them over on my left and your right, Mr. Speaker. They are all armed. I urge the body to support this bill."

Laughter erupted -- but a few Democrats were less than pleased. And one of them tells Daily RFT that the sheriffs' attendance in the first place was a direct violation of House rules. We've got audio of the exchange below.

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Go team!

Did you know that the Missouri legislature has a softball tournament? And did you know that one of the teams this year was called Military Mafia?

Daily RFT and our reliable Jefferson City tipsters have got you covered!

Last week, the photo to the right, big version below, arrived in our inbox. An attendee snapped this shot of the team of lawmakers and staffers that chose the name Military Mafia and printed matching orange T-shirts with rifles on them.

But, the office of the team captain tells us, the theme has nothing to do with any gun debates at the Missouri State Capitol.

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House Speaker Timothy Jones.

One of the most hotly debated issues at the Missouri legislature this session is the question of whether the state is violating the privacy of residents with concealed-carry permits by way of some sort of "gun registry" conspiracy. The concern is that -- in the context of gun control -- officials in Missouri responsible for licensing may be maintaining a list of names that could be used outside of the state or by the federal government to track gun owners.

Now, it seems, someone using a Missouri House of Representatives computer has tried to access a confidential list of concealed-carry permit holders in the state, possibly to prove some sort of point that private citizens' personal information is at risk. This unknown source, however, was unsuccessful, and now the Missouri office of administration is trying to figure out who was making repeated unauthorized attempts to access a secured server...from a House IP address.

Critics of the GOP say this is basically an attempt at hacking a government database.

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The Roy Blunt "receipt."

Last month, we reported that U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, voted against a federal background checks proposal -- with a statement saying, "We must do everything we can to prevent tragedies like those that took place in Newtown, Aurora or Tucson."

Now, a national advocacy group pushing for stricter gun laws has a simple numerical explanation for his role in the gun-control bill's defeat.

It's the "gun-lobby receipt." As Mayors Against Illegal Guns puts it, "How much did it cost to buy his vote?"

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Casey Guernsey.

As we've reported, Missouri lawmakers are aggressively pushing forward with their effort to make it illegal to enforce any federal firearm laws in the state with a proposal that Republican supporters say is a bold statement against gun control. Critics say it's an absurd, unconstitutional move to ban the enforcement of commonsense policies to reduce gun violence.

State Representative Casey Guernsey, a Republican lawmaker behind one of these pro-gun bills -- and there are many -- tells Daily RFT that the criticisms from the left are misguided and that his proposal to block gun control would hold up.

"Just because President Obama has declared that something is constitutional doesn't make it so," he says.

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Rep. Casey Guernsey.

Legislators in Jefferson City are one step closer to passing a bill that would make it a criminal act to enforce any federal firearm laws in Missouri. The House successfully passed HB170 on Wednesday, and the bill is now being debated in the Senate with a hearing scheduled next week.

This anti-gun control bill would certainly not be the first proposal Missouri Republicans passed and signed into law aimed directly at blocking federal policy. But given the heated gun debates nationally and in Missouri, it would be especially noteworthy if this one makes it to the governor's desk.

Missouri Democrats say they are outraged.

"I don't know when this ends," State Rep. Rory Ellinger tells Daily RFT. "When every human being is forced to carry a gun?"

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Governor Jay Nixon.

Governor Jay Nixon is facing another subpoena in a court battle.

Earlier this month, we reported on the twist in a long drawn-out murder trial, in which the defense wanted Nixon to testify about a 1990 killing. (A judge has since refused to order him to testify).

Now, it looks like the Missouri governor is going to face a subpoena in a case his current office is much more closely involved in: the battle over concealed-carry permit applicants' privacy in the state.

This is the latest development in a Stoddard County resident's lawsuit that has sparked a wide range of GOP backlash against the state's licensing bureau.

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