What are the Missouri laws for owning a handgun and living with a felon?

Answer 1

It is not illegal to own a handgun if you live with a felon, as long as you yourself are not a felon. However, it IS illegal for the felon to have possession of the handgun. If you live with a felon, the best option is to have no firearms in the house, BUT, (and this is the short answer) if you keep the firearm locked up where the felon has no access to it, that is techincally legal.

Additional: View the last sentence of the above answer with caution. It makes no difference where the firearm is kept. If a felon lives in the house the law assumes that they are able to exert influence over the true registered owner of the weapon, and law enforcement views the "ownership" of the firearm as a sham surrogate transaction.

There is case law in both state and federal courts that says "constructive possession" of the weapon must be proven for a crime to have been committed. Constructive possession is basically defined as the desire and ability (both) to control the weapon. Additionally, with the exception of only a few states, there is no such thing as the "true registered owner" of a firearm, since there is no such as registration. That said, however, if you live with a felon, the best option is to not have a firearm in the house.

One quote from U.S. vs. Robert Ruckman: "Ordinarily, an individual is considered to constructively possess an item when he or she knowingly holds the power and ability to exercise dominion and control over the property."

So, if the firearm is somewhere the felon cannot access it, they don't have the ability to "exercise dominion and control" over it.

That said, that does not mean a felon would not be arrested if a police officer found a weapon in the same house. However, strictly speaking, a police officer can arrest a person for anything, at any time. What really matters is what can or can't be proven later in court.