Kansas City, Mo. ? Citizens who plan to exercise their new concealed-gun rights under Missouri law might want to study the gun laws of neighboring states as well, especially if they routinely cross those borders.

Just five states still prohibit citizens from carrying concealed weapons — and three of them border Missouri: Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska. The others are Ohio and Wisconsin.

Paul Morrison, district attorney of Johnson County, Kan., said Missouri’s new statute changed nothing in Kansas, where state law allows carrying firearms in plain sight but bans concealed guns with very few exceptions.

Morrison, whose county adjoins Kansas City, Mo., cautioned Missourians who obtain concealed-carry permits.

Differing ordinances

“If you’re packing, put the weapon on the seat. You cannot drive with it concealed,” Morrison said. “We will not be out actively looking for concealed weapons, but if we find them, we will prosecute.”

But there’s more to the law than the Kansas statute. Some cities have local ordinances dictating the legal way to drive their streets with a gun in the car.

In Johnson County, where about 20 cities are packed into 477 square miles, a driver can pass through three jurisdictions within a few blocks. The cities of Leawood, Prairie Village and Overland Park all abut a neighborhood on West 95th Street, for example, and all have their own gun ordinances.

“You can walk down the middle of Metcalf with a gun strapped to your hip and not really in violation of state law,” said Johnson County Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Quigg, referring to a main thoroughfare in the county. “But you may be in violation of several Overland Park ordinances.”

The city of Shawnee, Kan., prohibits guns with barrels shorter than 18 inches from inside a car if an occupant “has access” to the weapon. In nearby Leawood, a gun can be transported inside a car, but it must be unloaded and in a case.

Border confusion

Leawood Police Chief Sid Mitchell sees all kinds of pitfalls in Missouri’s new law — not least that some Missourians might not even know they’ve entered Kansas.

Few “Welcome to Kansas” signs are posted on the hundreds of streets that cross State Line Road, the north-south boundary street in the congested Kansas City-metro area.

Mitchell said Missourians driving with guns should stop before entering Kansas and “put that weapon in a place of safety.” But he expressed concern that someone pulling into a parking lot to unload or move a gun could have an accident, or frighten passers-by “who see someone fiddling with a weapon.”

Just north of Johnson County lies Wyandotte County, Kan., where Kansas’ open-carry has been tightened even further. By local ordinance, it’s illegal to carry a weapon in plain sight in Kansas City, Kan.

“The ordinance closes up the loopholes in the state law,” Assistant Dist. Atty. Jerome Gorman said. “You cannot have a gun on the seat of your car in Kansas City, Kansas.”

As for the legality of a weapon in a car’s trunk, “I’d have to research that,” Gorman said. The bottom line, he said, is that anyone driving through the county with guns — even to a gun show or firing range — should be prepared to make a persuasive case to prosecutors.

Kevin Jamison, an attorney in Kansas City, Mo., and president of the Western Missouri Shooters Assn., advises gun owners to heed federal statute when traveling.

Locked container

“The federal law says that if you legally possess a firearm and you’re carrying it in interstate commerce, if it’s unloaded and in a locked container you can legally carry it in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam,” Jamison said.

Glove compartments and consoles don’t qualify as “locked containers,” Jamison said. He recommends putting the gun in a tool box, a small safe that is bolted to the floor of the car or a “gun rug,” which is a cloth or leather container with a lock.

Missourians heading into Nebraska, Illinois or the part of Kansas bordered by the Missouri River at least have a wide body of water signaling that they’re leaving their concealed-carry home state.

It’s along the 150 miles from Kansas City to Missouri’s southwest corner that Missourians with concealed weapons will have to be most alert for the Kansas border — especially in the two-state Joplin and Kansas City metro areas.

“They need to be cognizant of where they’re at,” said Deputy Sheriff Cy Frost of Cherokee County, Kan., which lies just over the line from Joplin. “Before coming into Kansas they better pull over, take the gun out of their pocket or wherever it’s concealed, remove it from inside the vehicle and put it up.”