JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Applications for concealed carry permits in Missouri are dropping after passage last year of a law making them unnecessary in many places.

Highway Patrol data on fingerprints processed for concealed carry permits show submissions hit a low of fewer than 1,600 in December.

That’s the fewest processed in the three years of available data. Patrol records only date back to January 2014.

Lawmakers and law enforcement officials say the drop was expected because of the new law.

Republican Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler says he still encourages people to get permits. He says they allow gun holders to carry in states with reciprocal agreements.

Wheeler also says training is helpful for understanding other gun laws and how to act in situations where holders might need to use firearms for defense.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — Southeast Missouri State University is about to become completely tobacco-free.

The university announced Friday that regents have approved a plan making all university properties, facilities and vehicles smoke- and tobacco-free starting with the fall semester, which begins Aug. 21. The only exceptions will be designated outdoor smoking areas at the Show Me Center and the River Campus Cultural Arts Center during public events and performances.

E-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products are among the prohibited items.

NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) — Newton County authorities say a man was accidentally shot in the back at a gun range near Neosho.

Sheriff Chris Jennings says the shooting happened Friday morning at the conservation area gun range east of Neosho.

The Joplin Globe reports the man’s name hasn’t been released and his condition was not immediately available.

Jennings said the victim was at the 7-yard line of the range, about 15 yards in front of a man whose .380-caliber gun discharged one round.

Jennings says the man was putting his gun back together but there apparently was a round still in the barrel.

Jennings said the slide went forward and discharged the round as the man was reassembling the gun.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas Office of Public Safety is planning to add more positions and new equipment to prepare for allowing concealed handguns on campus.

Police Chief Chris Keary tells the Lawrence Journal-World that the office is adding three police officers to patrol busy areas of campus, four portable metal detectors and three security officers to man them.

The additions were approved in the latest university budget to abide by a new state law that requires public universities to allow lawful carry of concealed handguns starting July 1.

Under the law, buildings can prohibit guns only if the facilities are equipped with adequate security. Keary says no campus building will have permanent security measures. The portable metal detectors are expected to help keep guns out of certain temporary events.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Senate has approved a bill that would greatly reduce negotiating power for public sector unions in the state.

The GOP-led chamber voted 29-21 Thursday, with all Democrats and an independent opposed. The vote followed lengthy debate in the chamber that started Wednesday morning and entered the next day.

The Republican-majority House approved the measure 53-47 about an hour earlier. The bill now heads to Gov. Terry Branstad, who supports the measure.

Legislative leaders used a rare procedural move to end debate early on the bill.

BOSTON (AP) — An increasing number of states are allowing or considering letting “dental therapists,” professionals with a lower level of training, to do jobs such as pulling teeth or filling cavities.

Several states are considering bills that would create a new midlevel position in dentistry called dental therapists or advanced dental hygiene practitioners.

They can perform common procedures such as filling cavities or pulling teeth, though more complex procedures would still be left with dentists. Public health advocates say dental therapists can greatly improve access to dental care for low-income people and those who live in rural areas.

In Massachusetts, a group that lobbies on behalf of dentists has for the first time signaled a willingness to embrace the concept.

Dentists have long opposed the midlevel position.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrats in the Republican-controlled Iowa Senate have debated through the night to delay voting on a bill that would eliminate most collective bargaining rights for public workers in the state.

The minority party led an hourslong effort that began Wednesday morning and continued after 5 a.m. Thursday. It’s unclear when the Senate will adjourn.

The bill would prohibit public sector employees such as teachers, nurses and correctional officers from negotiating over several issues including health insurance, evaluation procedures and extra pay. It’s similar to a 2011 collective bargaining law in Wisconsin.

House and Senate debate over mirror versions of the legislation began Tuesday. Since then, Democrats in both chambers unsuccessfully have tried procedural moves to alter the proposal. Their efforts are not expected to stop the legislation’s expected passage.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri state park named after former Gov. Jay Nixon has been closed, weeks after it opened.

Missouri Department of Natural Resources spokesman Tom Bastian said Wednesday that Jay Nixon State Park in Reynolds County closed Feb. 8 due to potential safety concerns.

Nixon, a Democrat, was a champion for the state park system and oversaw the opening of four parks in his final weeks in office. Republican Eric Greitens was inaugurated last month.

The DNR announced in January that a mostly undeveloped 1,200-acre tract of land near Ironton would carry Nixon’s name.

Republican state Rep. Sonja Anderson of Springfield told a House committee that she agreed with the decision to close the park, saying it is in no condition to hike.

PARK HILLS, Mo. (AP) — An eastern Missouri woman is being treated for burns from a house fire, and a man who saw the fire from a neighboring home is credited with saving her life.

The Daily Journal newspaper in Park Hills, Missouri reports that fire broke out Tuesday afternoon at the Park Hills home of a 74-year-old woman. Richard Cowell Jr. was visiting his sister when they saw smoke coming from the woman’s home.

Cowell saw the woman in the doorway, apparently dazed. He pulled her from the home and put out a fire on her skin. She was flown to a St. Louis hospital with burns to her back and head.

The home was badly damaged. Smoking is the suspected cause of the fire but an investigation continues.

LEBANON, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City attorney has been acquitted in the killing of her millionaire father and his girlfriend at their Missouri lake house.

The Kansas City Star reports that jurors found Susan “Liz” Van Note not guilty Tuesday of two counts of first-degree murder in the 2010 attack on 67-year-old William Van Note and 59-year-old Sharon Dickson.

Dickson was stabbed and shot at the Lake of the Ozarks house and died at the scene.

William Van Note died four days later at a hospital, where authorities say his daughter produced a document suggesting she had power of attorney. Investigators say she requested that the ventilator keeping him alive be shut off.

Authorities allege Van Note was in debt and angry that Dickson would have inherited the bulk of her father’s estate.