The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that a state constitutional amendment on gun rights does not allow convicted felons to possess firearms.
Santonio McCoy of St. Louis, who had a felony record, had a pistol when he was arrested in 2012. Missouri law prohibits felons from owning guns, and he was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Missouri voters in 2014 passed Amendment 5, which declared the right to keep and bear arms "unalienable." Though backers said it was not intended to be a roadblock to getting guns out of the hands of felons, McCoy argued that the amendment gave him the right to keep his gun.
The state Supreme Court unanimously agreed that the amendment does not supersede the felon-in-possession law.