By george, you may have won the right to carry concealed weapons, but we certaininly must limit the places you can carry them to your own private property. It seems to me that in the last couple states to win freedom the antis just aren't giving up. Why the scorched earth policy now that most of the country lives where concealed carry is permitted?
Jeff
CONCEALED WEAPONS Guns in public
03/08/2004
MISSOURI'S CONCEALED-WEAPONS LAW goes on for page after page after page listing places where people shouldn't carry concealed guns. It almost sounds onerous.
There are 17 categories in all: police stations, polling places, jails, courthouses, government buildings, bars, airports, colleges, schools, child-care centers, gambling boats, gated amusement parks, churches, hospitals, private property where signs are posted, sports arenas and stadiums and anywhere federal law prohibits guns.
But then the law takes it all back. Carrying a gun in those public places is prohibited, but it's not a crime. The only punishment is a small fine. So, a person can carry a gun into any public place anytime he wishes, knowing he won't go to jail even if he's caught.
In short, the state's new concealed-weapons law is not the safe, restrictive, moderate law that its sponsors promised. This is a grab-your-six-shooter law. The restrictions are a farce.
When a person violates the law's restrictions by, let's say, taking a concealed gun into a crowd at Busch Stadium or the Savvis Center, he can be asked to leave - if anyone notices the gun he's concealing. If he leaves, no harm no foul. He merely can put the gun in his car and get back to the game; that's the same drill women have to follow if they try to bring an oversize purse into a ballpark.
If the person with the gun refuses to leave, authorities can call the police, who can issue a ticket for not more than $100. If the person comes back nine months later and does the same thing, he gets another $100 ticket. The permit holder retains the right to carry a concealed gun and can repeat the offense nine months later with the same slap on the wrist.
If the police are called twice within six months to remove a belligerent gun-toter, the fine can go up to $200, and the permit to carry is suspended for a year. A third violation, within a year of the first, carries a $500 fine and the permit to carry is revoked for three years.
The same situation applies in stores, offices and factories, even if there is a sign on the door banning guns. Of course, your boss could fire you for bringing a gun past that sign. But the restaurant or grocery or department store only could ask you to take your gun back to your car.
Despite the prohibition against guns in schools and churches, a school official or minister can give a parent or teacher or parishioner permission to bring a concealed gun into the classroom or sanctuary. Anyone bold enough - or crazy enough - can march into school or church with a non-concealed gun because the new law repealed the part of the old law that made that behavior illegal. It also repealed the old law barring other concealed weapons, such as knives, from schools and churches.
Bars can tell patrons to keep their guns in the car. But a bartender can let his regulars belly up while packing heat.
The Legislature must close the dangerous loopholes and give Missourians a tough law that keeps guns out of the places where they eat and shop and worship.
Coming Friday: Guns in cars
Jeff
CONCEALED WEAPONS Guns in public
03/08/2004
MISSOURI'S CONCEALED-WEAPONS LAW goes on for page after page after page listing places where people shouldn't carry concealed guns. It almost sounds onerous.
There are 17 categories in all: police stations, polling places, jails, courthouses, government buildings, bars, airports, colleges, schools, child-care centers, gambling boats, gated amusement parks, churches, hospitals, private property where signs are posted, sports arenas and stadiums and anywhere federal law prohibits guns.
But then the law takes it all back. Carrying a gun in those public places is prohibited, but it's not a crime. The only punishment is a small fine. So, a person can carry a gun into any public place anytime he wishes, knowing he won't go to jail even if he's caught.
In short, the state's new concealed-weapons law is not the safe, restrictive, moderate law that its sponsors promised. This is a grab-your-six-shooter law. The restrictions are a farce.
When a person violates the law's restrictions by, let's say, taking a concealed gun into a crowd at Busch Stadium or the Savvis Center, he can be asked to leave - if anyone notices the gun he's concealing. If he leaves, no harm no foul. He merely can put the gun in his car and get back to the game; that's the same drill women have to follow if they try to bring an oversize purse into a ballpark.
If the person with the gun refuses to leave, authorities can call the police, who can issue a ticket for not more than $100. If the person comes back nine months later and does the same thing, he gets another $100 ticket. The permit holder retains the right to carry a concealed gun and can repeat the offense nine months later with the same slap on the wrist.
If the police are called twice within six months to remove a belligerent gun-toter, the fine can go up to $200, and the permit to carry is suspended for a year. A third violation, within a year of the first, carries a $500 fine and the permit to carry is revoked for three years.
The same situation applies in stores, offices and factories, even if there is a sign on the door banning guns. Of course, your boss could fire you for bringing a gun past that sign. But the restaurant or grocery or department store only could ask you to take your gun back to your car.
Despite the prohibition against guns in schools and churches, a school official or minister can give a parent or teacher or parishioner permission to bring a concealed gun into the classroom or sanctuary. Anyone bold enough - or crazy enough - can march into school or church with a non-concealed gun because the new law repealed the part of the old law that made that behavior illegal. It also repealed the old law barring other concealed weapons, such as knives, from schools and churches.
Bars can tell patrons to keep their guns in the car. But a bartender can let his regulars belly up while packing heat.
The Legislature must close the dangerous loopholes and give Missourians a tough law that keeps guns out of the places where they eat and shop and worship.
Coming Friday: Guns in cars