Wassail Walk Friday, Nov. 27 · 27 days 18 hrs See the route →
Skip to content

← Boonville ordinances

Boonville Unlawful use of weapons; exceptions ordinance (§ 14-4.1)

Chapter 14: Offenses: Miscellaneous · Article I. In General

In short: Among other things, it is unlawful to discharge a firearm within 100 yards of an occupied schoolhouse, courthouse or church, or to exhibit a weapon in an angry or threatening manner.

Our plain-English summary, not the official text or legal advice. The ordinance below is what counts.

(a) A person commits the offense of unlawful use of weapons if he or she knowingly:

(1) Carries concealed upon or about his or her person a knife, a firearm, a blackjack, bow and arrow (steel-tipped), or any other weapon readily capable of lethal use; or

(2) Sets a spring gun; or

(3) Discharges or shoots a firearm into a dwelling house, a railroad train, boat, aircraft, or motor vehicle as defined in section 302.010, RSMo, or any building or structure used for the assembling of people; or

Exhibits, in the presence of one or more (4) persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner; or Possesses or discharges a firearm or pro- (5) jectile weapon while intoxicated; or

Discharges a firearm within 100 yards of any (6) occupied schoolhouse, courthouse, or church building; or Discharges or shoots a firearm at a mark, at (7) any object, or at random, on, along or across a public highway or discharges a firearm into any outbuilding; or Carries a firearm or any other weapon read- (8) ily capable of lethal use into any church or place where people have assembled for worship, or into any election precinct on any

election day, or into any building owned or occupied by any agency of the federal government, state government, or political subdivision thereof; or

(9) Discharges or shoots a firearm at or from a motor vehicle, as defined in section 301.010, RSMo, discharges or shoots a firearm at any person, or at any other motor vehicle, or at any building or habitable structure, unless the person was lawfully acting in self-defense; or

(10) Carries a firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or any other weapon readily capable of lethal use into any school, onto any school bus, or onto the premises of any function or activity sponsored or sanctioned by school officials or the district school board.

(b) Subdivisions (1), (3), (4), (6), (7), (8), (9) and (10) of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to or affect any of the following:

(1) All state, county and municipal peace officers possessing the duty and power of arrest for violation of the general criminal laws of the state or for violation of ordinances of counties or municipalities of the state, whether such officers are within or outside their jurisdictions or on or off duty, or any person summoned by such officers to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace while actually engaged in assisting such officer; (2) Wardens, superintendents and keepers of prisons, penitentiaries, jails and other institutions for the detention of persons accused or convicted of crime;

(3) Members of the armed forces or National Guard while performing their official duty; (4) Those persons vested by article V, section 1 of the Constitution of Missouri with the judicial power of the state and those persons vested by article III of the Constitution of the United States with the judicial power of the United States, the members of the federal judiciary;

(5) Any person whose bona fide duty is to execute process, civil or criminal;

(6) Any federal probation officer;

(7) Any state probation or parole officer, including supervisors and members of the board of probation and parole;

(8) Any corporate security advisor meeting the definition and fulfilling the requirements of the regulations established by the board of police commissioners under section 84.340, RSMo; and

(9) Any coroner, deputy corner, medical examiner, or assistant medical examiner.

(c) Subdivisions (1), (5), (8), and (10) of subsection (a) of this section do not apply when the actor is transporting such weapons in a nonfunctioning state or in an unloaded state when ammunition is not readily accessible or when such weapons are not readily accessible. Subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section does not apply to any person 21 years of age or older transporting a concealable firearm in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, so long as such concealable firearm is otherwise lawfully possessed, nor when the actor is also in possession of an exposed firearm or projectile weapon for the lawful pursuit of game, or is in his or her dwelling unit or upon premises over which the actor has possession, authority or control, or is traveling in a continuous journey peaceably through this state. Subdivision (10) of subsection (a) of this section does not apply if the firearm is otherwise lawfully possessed by a person while traversing school premises for the purposes of transporting a student to or from school, or possessed by an adult for the purposes of facilitation of a school-sanctioned firearm related event.

(d) Subdivisions (1), (8), and (10) of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any person who has a valid concealed carry endorsement issued pursuant to Section 571.101 to 571.121, RSMo., or a valid permit or endorsement to carry concealed firearms issued by another state or political subdivision of another state.

(e) Subdivisions (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to persons who are engaged in a lawful act of defense pursuant to section 563.031, RSMo.

(f) Nothing in this section shall make it unlawful for a student to actually participate in school-sanctioned gun safety courses, student military or ROTC courses, or other school sponsored firearm-related events, provided the student does not carry a firearm or other weapon readily capable of lethal use into any school, onto any school bus, or onto the premises of any other function or activity sponsored or sanctioned by school officials or the district school board.

(g) Any person knowingly aiding or abetting any other person in the violation of subdivision (9) of subsection (a) of this section shall be subject to the same penalty as that prescribed by this section for violations by other persons.

Official source: City of Boonville official Code of Ordinances (online): look up Sec. 14-4.1

Text from Supplement 8 (December 2025), through Ordinance 4678 of December 16, 2024.

Last checked October 30, 2026. The city's official copy controls; this page is a reading copy, not legal advice.