Missouri

Get Help

If you are a victim and your abuser has a gun or you feel unsafe for other reasons, it is important to work with a victim advocate. The following organizations can help you find an advocate free of charge:

It is also helpful to have a lawyer assist you, particularly when you are seeking an order of protection. You can find a lawyer using the Missouri Bar’s website. If you cannot afford a lawyer, contact Missouri Legal Aid.



How to Get Protection

What kind of domestic orders of protection are available in Missouri?

Missouri courts can issue two types of domestic orders of protection. In both of these orders, the court can help protect you from gun violence or threats of gun violence by an intimate partner:

  • Ex parte orders of protection1*
  • Full orders of protection2*

Courts can order whatever relief*they believe is necessary to protect you,3including requiring the respondent* to get rid of his/her/their guns and prohibiting them from getting new ones.

How can you get an order of protection?

Click here to see if you are eligible for an order of protection in Missouri.

You can find out more about how to get protection here or at WomensLaw.org.

You can find your local court here.

Court forms can be found here.

What do I do if I do not qualify for protection as a victim of domestic violence but I still need protection from someone?

If you do not qualify for protection as a victim of domestic violence but need protection from someone (including a stranger, an acquaintance, or another person not covered under a domestic violence order of protection), you might qualify for some other type of order. Contact VictimConnect at (855) 484-2846 or a lawyer for more information. You can find a lawyer using the Missouri Bar’s website. If you cannot afford a lawyer, contact Missouri Legal Aid.

How can the court help protect you?

In Missouri, courts can order whatever relief* they deem necessary to protect you.4 Some of the things the court can order include:

  • Ordering the respondent* to turn over his/her/their firearms to local law enforcement immediately;
  • Prohibiting the respondent from purchasing or possessing firearms;
  • Ordering law enforcement to retrieve the respondent’s firearms if the respondent fails to turn them in as ordered by the court;
  • Scheduling a follow up compliance hearing* to ensure that the respondent has not accessed additional firearms since the order was issued;
  • Requiring the respondent to appear before the court to self-report turning over their firearms as ordered;
  • Directing law enforcement to follow up with the respondent to make sure the respondent turned over their guns as ordered;
  • Ordering law enforcement to go to your home at scheduled times to check in on your safety;
  • If the guns are shared marital property, the court can order the sale of the guns and divide the money between you;
  • Ordering the respondent to stay away from you, your children, your family, and anyone else in immediate danger, based on the threats and/or actions of the respondent;
  • Ordering the respondent not to hurt you or threaten to hurt you in the future;
  • Anything else you need to be safe.

How will the court know what you need to protect you from the respondent’s firearms violence?

In your petition* and during any of the hearings* you participate in when you are seeking protection, you will have the opportunity to tell the court about the respondent’s* threats or acts of abuse, especially ones involving firearms. Every situation is different, and it is important to talk to a lawyer about your specific situation. You can find a lawyer using the Missouri Bar’s website. If you cannot afford a lawyer, contact Missouri Legal Aid.

Your story will help the court decide what relief* to give you. Whether you are filling out court forms or speaking directly to the court, it is important to tell the court about the violence you experienced (working with your lawyer, if you have one), especially if the respondent used or threatened to use a firearm against you, a member of your family, any member of the community, or your pet. Among other things, this may include telling the court:

  • About incidents of physical violence or threats of physical violence and include dates wherever you can;
  • How the respondent used firearms to hurt or threaten you, your family, your pet(s), or anyone in the community;
  • If you fear that the respondent may use firearms violence or threats of firearms violence in the future;
  • If the respondent has threatened to harm him/her/themself. This may be a sign that the respondent intends to use a dangerous weapon like a firearm against you, themself, or other people;
  • If you can, the type(s), number, and location of firearms the respondent has access to.

This page was updated June 23, 2021. Please note that data used are the most recent available data.