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Stand-Your-Ground Law: Jackson County prosecutor wants to see changes

By Grace Smith (KCTV5) Published: Feb. 11, 2026 at 6:20 PM CST

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson says Missouri’s stand-your-ground law is making it difficult to determine who is the criminal when multiple people are armed.

In an interview with KMBZ Radio News, Johnson said this past year has been a “struggle” to identify aggressors in certain cases, blaming the broad nature of Missouri’s self-defense laws. Johnson’s office recoded parts of the conversation and sent it to KCTV5 when we asked for an interview about the issue.

“Can we make our stand, your ground, and self-defense laws a bit more specific and do robust educational campaigns on when you can and cannot shoot somebody?” Johnson said in an interview with KMBZ Radio News last week.

Missouri is a ‘stand your ground’ state, meaning people can use force if they face imminent danger without running first.

Johnson said the laws make it hard to prove who started shootouts involving multiple armed people.

“They pull up, everybody pulls their guns out, and automatically start shooting. If we can’t prove who the initial aggressor is to be able to try to neutralize any claim of self-defense, we have a really difficult time charging those cases,” Johnson said.

Johnson is now working with state lawmakers to narrow the law, but criminal defense attorney John Picerno argues that’s the wrong approach.

“I think the law, as it is stated on the books, is exactly the way the law should be,” Picerno said.

Picerno said he understands Johnson’s frustration but backs the current law.

“I’ve tried many, many murder cases, and I’ve tried many self-defense cases, and self-defense law in the state of Missouri is a good law. It protects all the parties,” Picerno shared.

He said the jury should have the final say in these cases.

“I think one of the few and great things about this country that we still have is the right to be tried by jury. And a panel of citizens of our community gets to make a determination based on the facts and the law of whether or not a crime was alleged as opposed to some politicians down in Jeff City saying what should happen in a certain situation,” Picerno said.