SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1587
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE TROUPE.
Read 1st time January 23, 2002, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 574, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to mass transportation terrorism, with a penalty provision.
Section A. Chapter 574, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 574.175, to read as follows:
574.175. 1. A person commits the crime of mass transportation terrorism if such person purposely commits any of the following acts and if the act committed, or in the case of a threat or a conspiracy the act would be committed, on, against, or affecting a mass transportation provider engaged in or affecting intrastate commerce:
(1) Wrecks, derails, sets fire to, or disables a mass transportation vehicle or ferry;
(2) Places or causes to be placed any biological agent or toxin for use as a weapon, destructive substance, or destructive device in, upon, or near a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, without previously obtaining the permission of the mass transportation provider, and with intent to endanger the safety of any passenger or employee of the mass transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life;
(3) Sets fire to, or places any biological agent or toxin for use as a weapon, destructive substance, or destructive device in, upon, or near any garage, terminal, structure, supply, or facility used in the operation of, or in support of the operation of, a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, without previously obtaining the permission of the mass transportation provider, and knowing or having reason to know such activity would likely derail, disable, or wreck a mass transportation vehicle or ferry used, operated, or employed by the mass transportation provider;
(4) Removes appurtenances from, damages, or otherwise impairs the operation of a mass transportation signal system, including a train control system, centralized dispatching system, or rail grade crossing warning signal without authorization from the mass transportation provider;
(5) Interferes with, disables, or incapacitates any dispatcher, driver, captain, or person while they are employed in dispatching, operating, or maintaining a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, with intent to endanger the safety of any passenger or employee of the mass transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life;
(6) Commits an act, including the use of a dangerous weapon, with the intent to cause death or serious physical injury to an employee or passenger of a mass transportation provider or any other person while any of the foregoing are on the property of a mass transportation provider;
(7) Conveys or causes to be conveyed false information, knowing the information to be false, concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made, to do any act which would be a violation of this section; or
(8) Attempts, threatens, or conspires to do any of the acts prohibited by this section.
2. Mass transportation terrorism is a felony for which the authorized punishment is a fine in an amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars or imprisonment for a term of years not less than ten years and not greater than twenty years or both such fine and imprisonment, unless the offense resulted in the death of any person, or the mass transportation vehicle or ferry involved in the act was carrying a passenger at the time of the offense, in which case the punishment is a fine in an amount not to exceed one million dollars or imprisonment for a term of years not less than ten years or life imprisonment or both such fine and imprisonment.
3. As used in this section the following terms shall mean:
(1) "Biological agent", any micro-organism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any such micro-organism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product, capable of causing:
(a) Death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism;
(b) Deterioration of food, water, equipment, supplies, or material of any kind; or
(c) Deleterious alteration of the environment;
(2) "Dangerous weapon", a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious physical injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than two and one-half inches in length;
(3) "Destructive device":
(a) Any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, mine, or device similar to any of the devices described in this subparagraph;
(b) Any type of weapon, other than a shotgun or shotgun shell which the secretary finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes, by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, and which has any barrel with a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter; and
(c) Any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting any device into any destructive device described in subparagraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision and from which a destructive device may be readily assembled.
The term destructive device shall not include any device which is neither designed nor redesigned for use as a weapon; any device, although originally designed for use as a weapon, which is redesigned for use as a signaling, pyrotechnic, line throwing, safety, or similar device; surplus ordnance sold, loaned, or given by the secretary of the army pursuant to the provisions of title 10 U.S.C. sections 4684(2), 4685, and 4686; or any other device which the secretary of the treasury finds is not likely to be used as a weapon, is an antique, or is a rifle which the owner intends to use solely for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes;
(4) "Destructive substance", an explosive substance, flammable material, infernal machine, or other chemical, mechanical, or radioactive device or matter of a combustible, contaminative, corrosive, or explosive nature;
(5) "Mass transportation", transportation by a conveyance that provides regular and continuing general or special transportation to the public, including but not limited to school buses, charters, and sightseeing transportation;
(6) "Serious physical injury", has the meaning given to that term in section 565.002, RSMo;
(7) "State", includes a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, and a commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States; and
(8) "Toxin", the toxic material of plants, animals, micro-organisms, viruses, fungi, or infectious substances, or a recombinant molecule, whatever its origin or method of production, including but not limited to:
(a) Any poisonous substance or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology produced by a living organism; or
(b) Any poisonous isomer or biological product, homolog, or derivative of such a substance.
Missouri House of Representatives