http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/C8F658119B974DD9862573E2001624B3?OpenDocument

Missouri ranked near the bottom and Illinois near the top of a national ranking of state gun regulations released Thursday by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control advocacy group.

"We make it too easy for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons," said Paul Helmke, president of the Washington-based group.

The campaign survey puts Missouri tied for second-worst in the nation in terms of its laws governing ownership, sale and possession of weapons. Illinois ranked ninth best, it said.

California won the group's praise as having what it considers the most comprehensive gun-control laws. Kentucky and Oklahoma tied for last place; Missouri shared the second-last ranking with Alaska, Louisiana, North Dakota and Utah.

Illinois is one of the few states that has no concealed-carry law, something the Missouri Legislature adopted in 2004 after statewide voters narrowly rejected it in 1999.

The Brady Campaign also scored Illinois higher because it doesn't have a "castle doctrine" law, such as the one Missouri adopted last year granting a broader right to use a weapon in self-defense. Also, Illinois requires a state-issued firearm owner card to buy a gun, but Missouri repealed its local handgun permit requirement in 2007.

"What we've seen in the last few years is a loosening of state gun laws that weren't so tight to begin with," said Jeanne Kirkton, former legislative director of Million Mom March in Missouri and a Webster Groves city councilwoman. "Illinois has more authority to regulate, more accountability for gun sales and more protections for children."

Greg Jeffery, spokesman for the Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance, a gun-rights group, said, "It depends upon your point of view. Missouri is better because the laws they have in place in Illinois don't slow down criminals, but they do slow down the honest citizens over there."

The Brady Campaign is the new name of Handgun Control, an organization founded in 1974. It was renamed in 2001 in honor of James Brady, who was press secretary to President Ronald Reagan when both were shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington on March 30, 1981. The Million Mom March has merged with the Brady Campaign.