A new law will go into affect Sunday that will change the age of carrying a concealed weapon from 23 to 21.

The vote to change the age was cast on Aug. 10 by the Senate, approving lowering the age to carry a concealed weapon by a vote of 27-6, a news release stated.

“The law does not go into affect until next Sunday,” said Wally Shoffner, a Firearms Training Services instructor who has been teaching citizens with gun permits how to safely carry, conceal, clean, store at home, and use the basic principals of marksmanship, as established in statute RMSO 571.111.2.”

Missouri’s former age requirement of 23 was the highest in the nation.

“Concealed carry is not new,” Boone County Sheriff Department’s Major Tom Reddin. “It was approved by the legislature seven or eight years ago. It was just a change to an existing law.”

The requirements for obtaining a weapon permit include safety training and also involve live firing exercises. With an instructor present, the applicant shoots from a standing position at a distance of 7 yards for 50 rounds and then at the same distance and in a standing position for 20 rounds.

“It is one of the longest training requirements in the country,” Missouri Sport Shooting Association president Kevin Jamison said.

The training session is eight hours long.

“It should not cause concern for the community at large that anything should happen,” Reddin said. “Our data shows that in terms of applicants for concealed carry versus the people denied for a permit are in a vast minority.”

Reddin said many law enforcement officers are not concerned about the change because applicants need to submit fingerprints, IDs and have their information entered into the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System in order to obtain permits.

Applicants must pass all of the tests in order to obtain a firearm permit, and criminals are not allowed to obtain a permit.

“Everyone who receives a permit is a law-abiding citizen,” Reddin said.

No one who has had a misdemeanor gun record involving “poison gas guns,” record of violence, drugs or two or more DWIs in the past five years, or mentally disabled persons, can carry a concealed weapon, Jamison said.

The next step for the bill is that it must go through the House for a concluding vote on the additions that the Senate has declared. The bill will then be sent to Governor Jay Nixon for final review.

If approved, the bill would become a law on Aug. 28.

“Persons who are 21 or 22 are not allowed to apply prior to Aug. 28,” the news release stated.