Jeff White
April 11, 2003, 01:56 PM
From the St. Louis Post Dispatch Friday 11 April 2003
CONCEALED WEAPONS
THE LEGISLATURE and the governor seem headed for a showdown over a bill to allow Missourians to carry concealed weapons. Gov. Bob Holden, acting the role of the guy with the badge, has promised to veto any concealed-carry bill that reaches his desk. State lawmakers are treating this threat like a bluff. Run for cover, folks, because things could get pretty ugly before it's over.
Unless, of course, the ladies and gentlemen in the Senate come to their senses and call a truce. That's a better idea than making Missouri the 33rd state to let folks pack heat. The House already has passed the measure, House Bill 349. On Wednesday, a state Senate panel voted 5-3 to send the bill to the full Senate. No date has been set for that vote.
There are many good reasons for senators to head off this fight with the governor. Lawmakers can't begin to include enough safeguards to make carrying concealed weapons safe. The measure would require eight hours of gun-safety training and background checks for anyone to get a concealed-weapons permit. But background checks do not red-flag those who are mentally unstable or violent, but have never been charged with a crime.
Lawmakers can't afford to be selective as they review the evidence for and against a concealed weapons law. Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, has urged opponents of the bill to provide evidence that concealed-weapons laws have caused an increase in crime. By the same token, he also should question the validity of evidence offered by proponents, including the spurious and much-touted study of economist John R. Lott Jr. Mr. Lott argued that concealed weapons laws reduce crime. This year, a study by the Brookings Institution contradicted Mr. Lott's findings, showing that murder and other violent crime rose in 13 states that passed right-to-carry laws.
Adding to the problems in this bill is the fact that 52 percent of Missouri voters - especially urban residents and GOP women from suburbs - said no to a concealed weapons law in a statewide referendum in 1999. But given the large number of legislators from rural areas, where learning to handle a gun and hunting are common rites of passage, the votes are almost certainly there to pass a concealed-carry law.
Missouri doesn't need more guns on its highways, streets and in its neighborhoods, a conclusion with which the majority of real law enforcers agree. That's the message a majority of voters sent in 1999. It's the message state lawmakers should heed now.
But if it does come to a showdown, we're counting on Sheriff Holden to stand his ground and pull the trigger.
CONCEALED WEAPONS
THE LEGISLATURE and the governor seem headed for a showdown over a bill to allow Missourians to carry concealed weapons. Gov. Bob Holden, acting the role of the guy with the badge, has promised to veto any concealed-carry bill that reaches his desk. State lawmakers are treating this threat like a bluff. Run for cover, folks, because things could get pretty ugly before it's over.
Unless, of course, the ladies and gentlemen in the Senate come to their senses and call a truce. That's a better idea than making Missouri the 33rd state to let folks pack heat. The House already has passed the measure, House Bill 349. On Wednesday, a state Senate panel voted 5-3 to send the bill to the full Senate. No date has been set for that vote.
There are many good reasons for senators to head off this fight with the governor. Lawmakers can't begin to include enough safeguards to make carrying concealed weapons safe. The measure would require eight hours of gun-safety training and background checks for anyone to get a concealed-weapons permit. But background checks do not red-flag those who are mentally unstable or violent, but have never been charged with a crime.
Lawmakers can't afford to be selective as they review the evidence for and against a concealed weapons law. Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, has urged opponents of the bill to provide evidence that concealed-weapons laws have caused an increase in crime. By the same token, he also should question the validity of evidence offered by proponents, including the spurious and much-touted study of economist John R. Lott Jr. Mr. Lott argued that concealed weapons laws reduce crime. This year, a study by the Brookings Institution contradicted Mr. Lott's findings, showing that murder and other violent crime rose in 13 states that passed right-to-carry laws.
Adding to the problems in this bill is the fact that 52 percent of Missouri voters - especially urban residents and GOP women from suburbs - said no to a concealed weapons law in a statewide referendum in 1999. But given the large number of legislators from rural areas, where learning to handle a gun and hunting are common rites of passage, the votes are almost certainly there to pass a concealed-carry law.
Missouri doesn't need more guns on its highways, streets and in its neighborhoods, a conclusion with which the majority of real law enforcers agree. That's the message a majority of voters sent in 1999. It's the message state lawmakers should heed now.
But if it does come to a showdown, we're counting on Sheriff Holden to stand his ground and pull the trigger.