578.435. Weapon defined--weapons owned or in possession of gang members may be confiscated--weapon deemed a nuisance and destroyed by court order, when.
Weapon defined--weapons owned or in possession of gang members may beconfiscated--weapon deemed a nuisance and destroyed by court order,when.
578.435. 1. As used in this section and section 578.437,the term "weapon" means any firearm, concealable firearm,blackjack, explosive weapon, gas gun, knife, knuckles, machinegun, projectile weapon, rifle, short barrel, shotgun, orswitchblade knife, as defined in section 571.010, RSMo.
2. Any weapon which is owned or possessed by a member of acriminal street gang for the purposes of the commission of anoffense enumerated in subdivision (2) of section 578.421 may beconfiscated by any law enforcement agency or peace officer asdefined in section 590.100, RSMo. If the law enforcement agencyor peace officer believes that the return of the weaponconfiscated has been or will be used in criminal street gangactivity or that the return of the weapon would be likely toresult in endangering the safety of others, the law enforcementagency or peace officer may initiate a petition in circuit courtto determine if the weapon should be returned or declared anuisance. If the court declares such weapon to be a nuisance,the weapon shall be destroyed.
(L. 1993 H.B. 562 § 5 subsecs. 1, 2)