Harold Volkmer

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Harold Volkmer

Harold Lee Volkmer (born April 4, 1931 in Jefferson City, Missouri) is an American politician from Missouri. He is a Democrat who served 20 years in the United States House of Representatives

[edit] Early life and career

Volkmer grew up in Missouri's capital city and attended Jefferson City Junior College and Saint Louis University. He later received a law degree from the University of Missouri. In 1955 he married the former Shirley Ruth Braskett (now deceased), and they had three children. Volkmer served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1957.

Volkmer served as an assistant Missouri Attorney General and had a private law practice in Hannibal, Missouri. From 1960 to 1966, he served as a prosecutor for Marion County, Missouri courts.

[edit] Political career

In 1966 Volkmer was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives from the Hannibal area and was re-elected four times. In 1976, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives and was re-elected nine times.

In Congress, Volkmer represented a mostly rural 21-county area in northeastern Missouri. He served on the House Agriculture Committee and helped shape five major farm bills. He had a reputation as a conservative Democrat due to his opposition to gun control legislation and his opposition to abortion.

He was one of the primary sponsors of the 1986 McClure-Volkmer Act that came to be known as the Firearm Owners Protection Act. This act cleaned up the abuses of the Gun Control Act by setting a system of rules that the BATFE had to follow when performing compliance inspections of gun shops.

In 1996, Volkmer was defeated in his 10th bid for re-election by Republican Kenny Hulshof. After leaving Congress, Volkmer served as chairman of the National Commission on Small Farms and was elected to the board of the National Rifle Association.