Here is the editorial the Post promised earlier in the week. I can't believe what some police chiefs are are saying publically. Confiscating guns to test fire them. Like their officers never worried about an armed subject on a traffic stop before now. I work in Illinois where there is no CCW and no chance of seeing it in the forseeable future and I approach every vehicle stop cautiously. And does the Post really believe that the eight officers named at the end of the editorial would be alive today if it had been illegal to carry firearms in vehicles? Oh that's right, It was illegal then.... How'd that happen? You mean that someone who would murder a police officer would be stopped because it was against the law to have a weapon in the car? Come on Post Dispatch, give your readers credit for more intelligence then that.....
CONCEALED WEAPONS Protect the police
03/12/2004
ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOPS are among the most dangerous moments in a police officer's life. In Missouri, they just got more dangerous. The new concealed-weapons law lets people keep guns out of sight in the passenger compartments of their cars.
Eight of the 23 Missouri Highway Patrol officers who have died in action since 1933 have been killed by gunfire during traffic stops, making it the second leading cause of trooper deaths. National statistics rank shootings during traffic stops as a main cause of police fatalities.
Officers always are wary when they approach a vehicle. But in Missouri they now must anticipate finding more concealed guns since it's legal to stash a gun in the glove compartment or under the seat.
In a law full of reckless provisions, this is the most reckless. Our police officers - who risk their lives every day to protect ours - deserve better.
Supporters of the concealed-weapons law claim that only trained, law-abiding people will be able to carry concealed guns under the new law. But all that flies out the window when it comes to cars: As long as the gun is legal, anyone 21 or older can conceal it in the passenger compartment.
There is no requirement of training or a weapons permit or a background check. A motorist with a concealed gun might be mentally ill or prone to "road rage." A group of teens could be riding in a car with a 21-year-old buddy who has a gun under the seat.
"Any law that would allow my 21-year-old daughter, who has never carried a gun, to carry one concealed in her car is a bad law," says St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch.
"Police work is a risky business at best," St. Louis County Police Chief Ron Battelle says. "This just makes it riskier."
Supporters of the law say a shooting Tuesday in Lemay shows that concealed guns in cars will deter crime. Police say Bryan Rutherford responded to a robbery by pulling a gun from a pouch in his truck and shooting one of the robbers. But people should listen to police and prosecutors.
The heightened potential for danger has already changed the way cops do their job. Now the first thing they will ask a motorist is whether he or she has a gun. If the answer is yes, says Chief Battelle, the officer probably will confiscate it. Many officers will order the driver and passengers out of the car, or even handcuff them, while they secure the gun and unload it.
Then the officer will have to check to make sure the gun is legal, says Mr. McCulloch. The only way to be sure is to check the serial number and test fire it to see if it has been used in a crime. Hazelwood Police Chief Carl Wolf says his officers will seize the gun for testing if the motorist doesn't have a weapons permit or proof of ownership.
Because people can have guns in cars but aren't supposed to take them into public places, parking lots outside stores, schools, factories - you name it - "will be like shopping centers for criminals who want to break into a car to steal a gun," says Chief Wolf. "It's ludicrous for guns to be in cars."
The Missouri Legislature is revisiting the concealed-weapons law because the Missouri Supreme Court found constitutional problems with its funding. In the process, the Legislature must fix the dangerous loopholes. A flicker of hope in that regard is the willingness of Sen. Mike Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, to consider changes. "Law enforcement has raised a lot of questions, and there is a tremendous amount of emotion out there. At some point when we revisit the law, we should revisit all of the issues that are out there."
In Missouri there are at least eight reasons to ban guns in cars. They are the state Highway Patrol officers killed by guns during auto stops: Sgt. Ben Booth, 1933; Trooper Fred Walker, 1941; Trooper Victor Dosing, 1941; Trooper Jessi Jenkins, 1969; Trooper James Froemsdorf, 1985; Trooper Jimmie Linegar, 1985; Trooper Russell Harper, 1987; Sgt. Robert Kimberling, 1999.
Next week: Keeping gun permits secret
CONCEALED WEAPONS Protect the police
03/12/2004
ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOPS are among the most dangerous moments in a police officer's life. In Missouri, they just got more dangerous. The new concealed-weapons law lets people keep guns out of sight in the passenger compartments of their cars.
Eight of the 23 Missouri Highway Patrol officers who have died in action since 1933 have been killed by gunfire during traffic stops, making it the second leading cause of trooper deaths. National statistics rank shootings during traffic stops as a main cause of police fatalities.
Officers always are wary when they approach a vehicle. But in Missouri they now must anticipate finding more concealed guns since it's legal to stash a gun in the glove compartment or under the seat.
In a law full of reckless provisions, this is the most reckless. Our police officers - who risk their lives every day to protect ours - deserve better.
Supporters of the concealed-weapons law claim that only trained, law-abiding people will be able to carry concealed guns under the new law. But all that flies out the window when it comes to cars: As long as the gun is legal, anyone 21 or older can conceal it in the passenger compartment.
There is no requirement of training or a weapons permit or a background check. A motorist with a concealed gun might be mentally ill or prone to "road rage." A group of teens could be riding in a car with a 21-year-old buddy who has a gun under the seat.
"Any law that would allow my 21-year-old daughter, who has never carried a gun, to carry one concealed in her car is a bad law," says St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch.
"Police work is a risky business at best," St. Louis County Police Chief Ron Battelle says. "This just makes it riskier."
Supporters of the law say a shooting Tuesday in Lemay shows that concealed guns in cars will deter crime. Police say Bryan Rutherford responded to a robbery by pulling a gun from a pouch in his truck and shooting one of the robbers. But people should listen to police and prosecutors.
The heightened potential for danger has already changed the way cops do their job. Now the first thing they will ask a motorist is whether he or she has a gun. If the answer is yes, says Chief Battelle, the officer probably will confiscate it. Many officers will order the driver and passengers out of the car, or even handcuff them, while they secure the gun and unload it.
Then the officer will have to check to make sure the gun is legal, says Mr. McCulloch. The only way to be sure is to check the serial number and test fire it to see if it has been used in a crime. Hazelwood Police Chief Carl Wolf says his officers will seize the gun for testing if the motorist doesn't have a weapons permit or proof of ownership.
Because people can have guns in cars but aren't supposed to take them into public places, parking lots outside stores, schools, factories - you name it - "will be like shopping centers for criminals who want to break into a car to steal a gun," says Chief Wolf. "It's ludicrous for guns to be in cars."
The Missouri Legislature is revisiting the concealed-weapons law because the Missouri Supreme Court found constitutional problems with its funding. In the process, the Legislature must fix the dangerous loopholes. A flicker of hope in that regard is the willingness of Sen. Mike Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, to consider changes. "Law enforcement has raised a lot of questions, and there is a tremendous amount of emotion out there. At some point when we revisit the law, we should revisit all of the issues that are out there."
In Missouri there are at least eight reasons to ban guns in cars. They are the state Highway Patrol officers killed by guns during auto stops: Sgt. Ben Booth, 1933; Trooper Fred Walker, 1941; Trooper Victor Dosing, 1941; Trooper Jessi Jenkins, 1969; Trooper James Froemsdorf, 1985; Trooper Jimmie Linegar, 1985; Trooper Russell Harper, 1987; Sgt. Robert Kimberling, 1999.
Next week: Keeping gun permits secret
:banghead: