571.020. Possession--manufacture--transport--repair--sale of certain weapons a crime--exceptions--penalties. — 1. A person commits an offense if such person knowingly possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs, or sells:
(1) An explosive weapon;
(2) An explosive, incendiary or poison substance or material with the purpose to possess, manufacture or sell an explosive weapon;
(3) A gas gun;
(4) A bullet or projectile which explodes or detonates upon impact because of an independent explosive charge after having been shot from a firearm; or
(5) Knuckles; or
(6) Any of the following in violation of federal law:
(a) A machine gun;
(b) A short-barreled rifle or shotgun;
(c) A firearm silencer; or
(d) A switchblade knife.
2. A person does not commit an offense pursuant to this section if his or her conduct involved any of the items in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 1, the item was possessed in conformity with any applicable federal law, and the conduct:
(1) Was incident to the performance of official duty by the Armed Forces, National Guard, a governmental law enforcement agency, or a penal institution; or
(2) Was incident to engaging in a lawful commercial or business transaction with an organization enumerated in subdivision (1) of this section; or
(3) Was incident to using an explosive weapon in a manner reasonably related to a lawful industrial or commercial enterprise; or
(4) Was incident to displaying the weapon in a public museum or exhibition; or
(5) Was incident to using the weapon in a manner reasonably related to a lawful dramatic performance.
3. An offense pursuant to subdivision (1), (2), (3) or (6) of subsection 1 of this section is a class D felony; a crime pursuant to subdivision (4) or (5) of subsection 1 of this section is a class A misdemeanor.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
32
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case:
DePriest v. State, 510 S.W.3d 331 (Mo. 2017).
DePriest v. State, 510 S.W.3d 331 (Mo. 2017).
· cites it 2× “211, and (3) unlawful *334 possession of a weapon under section 571.020. The DePriests were represented by the same counsel throughout their separate criminal proceedings.”
State v. Harvey, 648 S.W.2d 87 (Mo. 1983).
· cites it 4× “(In 1981 Missouri adopted a new statute, § 571.020 RSMo [HB 296], which makes possession of a "shortbarrelled" rifle unlawful.”
Richardson v. Holland, 741 S.W.2d 751 (Mo. Ct. App. 1987).
· cites it 2× “is that it failed to warn of the dangers associated with the distribution of the handgun and failed to regulate or limit the distribution and sale of the handgun so as to prevent its use in criminal activities.”
State v. Tanis, 247 S.W.3d 610 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008).
· cites it 3× “Tanis asserts, that his failure to specify the type or amount of explosives or his intent to detonate them makes the condition less dangerous is illogical.”
State of Missouri v. Wesley William Osborn, 504 S.W.3d 865 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016).
“*869 Karen King Mitchell, Presiding Judge Wesley Osborn appeals, following a bench trial, his convictions of unlawful possession of an explosive weapon, § 571.020, 1 and failure to appear, § 544.”
State v. Turner, 713 S.W.2d 877 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).
· cites it 4× “Turner, appeals from his convictions, after a jury trial, of two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, to wit, unlawful possession of a machine gun, § 571.020(2), RSMo (Cum. Supp.1984), and unlawful possession of a firearm silencer.”
State v. Maxon, 5 S.W.3d 613 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999).
· cites it 3× “211, RSMo 1994, and possession of a prohibited weapon, Section 571.020, RSMo 1994. Defendant was sentenced as a prior offender to fifteen years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on Count I, and seven years’ imprisonment on Count II.”
State v. Wallace, 825 S.W.2d 626 (Mo. Ct. App. 1992).
· cites it 2× “As used in § 571.020, “short barrel” means a barrel length of less than eighteen inches for a shotgun, measured from the face of the bolt or standing breech, or an overall shotgun length of less than twenty-six inches.”
State v. Moses, 265 S.W.3d 863 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008).
“(2000), 1 and possession of a prohibited weapon, § 571.020. A jury acquitted Moses of the latter charge, but found him guilty of the former, and the trial court sentenced Moses to ten years in prison.”
State v. McCartney, 297 S.W.3d 924 (Mo. Ct. App. 2009).
· cites it 3× “211 RSMo 2000 and one count of unlawful possession of an illegal weapon (“Count II”), in violation of section 571.020 RSMo 2000. 1 The trial court sentenced Defendant as a prior offender to a term of five years’ imprisonment for each count, to run concurrently.”
State v. Jackson, 809 S.W.2d 77 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991).
“Appellant, Yuris Jackson, appeals his jury conviction for the offense of criminal possession of a short-barrelled shotgun, RSMo § 571.020 (1986), for which he was sentenced to five years in prison.”
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 571.020(2) — 1 case
State v. Turner, 713 S.W.2d 877 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).
“Turner, appeals from his convictions, after a jury trial, of two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, to wit, unlawful possession of a machine gun, § 571.020(2), RSMo (Cum. Supp.1984), and unlawful possession of a firearm silencer.”
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 571.020(2)(5) — 1 case
State v. Wallace, 825 S.W.2d 626 (Mo. Ct. App. 1992).
“As used in § 571.020, “short barrel” means a barrel length of less than eighteen inches for a shotgun, measured from the face of the bolt or standing breech, or an overall shotgun length of less than twenty-six inches.”
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 571.020(4) — 1 case
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 571.020(5) — 1 case
State v. Turner, 713 S.W.2d 877 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).
“Turner, appeals from his convictions, after a jury trial, of two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, to wit, unlawful possession of a machine gun, § 571.020(2), RSMo (Cum. Supp.1984), and unlawful possession of a firearm silencer.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.