Gun rights are expansive in Missouri, where shooting at Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade took place

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The shooting that wounded more than 20 people and killed one during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade occurred in a state with few gun regulations and historic tension over how major cities handle crime.

The shooting, which Kansas City police on Thursday said appeared to stem from a dispute between several people, happened despite the presence of more than 800 police officers on hand.

Notably, dozens of policymakers from Missouri and neighboring Kansas were caught in the chaos as throngs of fans scattered at the sound of gunshots. Lawmakers and elected officials who witnessed the havoc firsthand included Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, whose security detail heard the shots after she’d gotten in her car to leave, a spokesperson said.

Democratic Missouri state Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern of Kansas City said she was inside the city’s historic Union Station when the shooting began. She said she and her sister ran and used their bodies to hide and shield fleeing children.

“I’m hurt. I’m angry,” Nurrenbern wrote in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “And I’m more resolved than ever to make sure kids can grow up in a Missouri free from gun violence.”

But what, if any, action Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature will take in response to the shooting is unclear.

“Policing a free nation is difficult,” GOP state Rep. Lane Roberts said Thursday. “So when we try to do things that augment the efforts of our police agencies without treading on the rights of other people, it can be a real difficult balance.”

Here’s a look at Missouri’s gun policies and how elected officials want to address crime:

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