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from St. Louis Today
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...lden+announces+ban+on+guns+in+state+buildings
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...lden+announces+ban+on+guns+in+state+buildings
Holden announces ban on guns in state buildings
By Tim Bryant
Post-Dispatch
10/06/2003
More than a dozen state employees watching from walkways at the Wainwright Building applauded Monday as Gov. Bob Holden announced a ban on concealed guns at all state buildings.
"State buildings are clearly no place for hidden handguns, just as I continue to believe that little league baseball parks and child-care facilities should be gun free," Holden said in St. Louis.
The governor said he had instructed the state Office of Administration to draft "emergency rules" to implement the ban for areas he can control. Lawmakers still will be permitted to carry concealed weapons in the state Capitol, a provision that is spelled out in the law.
Holden said the state's "poorly drafted" concealed carry law - enacted over his veto - leaves state employees vulnerable in the workplace.
Effective this Saturday, Missouri's new gun law will allow qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons in all but a handful of locations, such as bars, casinos and hospitals.
The governor's office said that without Holden's action Monday, concealed guns would have been allowed in the state Capitol, state office buildings, psychiatric facilities, child-support enforcement offices, veterans' homes, the Missouri School for the Blind, the Missouri School for the Deaf, buildings at the Missouri State Fair and other state-owned or operated properties.
"I have the responsibility to provide for the safety of all people in state buildings," Holden said.
In 1999, a statewide referendum to allow concealed weapons failed with 52 percent of the votes cast in opposition, primarily in urban areas. Holden noted that he opposed concealed carry then.
The prohibition announced by Holden on Monday will not hinder law enforcement officials who carry guns in their duties.
Regardless, Michael Gordinier, a director of the pro-gun Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance, said Holden's order would turn state buildings into "massacre-friendly zones."
Gordinier said that turning state buildings into gun-free zones made workers targets for potential mass murderers. He said Holden was showing a "profound ignorance" of the situation in other states, where guns are allowed in government buildings "and nothing bad has happened."
Gordinier added that the governor was "trying to save face and looks as if he's pandering to his constituency" of gun control advocates.
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., the top corporate player in Missouri politics, said last week it was no longer backing Holden, in large part because of differences over concealed weapons.
Holden said Monday he was not surprised by the company's move, explaining he had consistently opposed concealed carry. In his bid for governor in 2000, documents show that Holden got at least $50,000 from various Anheuser-Busch entities or executives.
Reporter Tim Bryant
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 314-621-5154
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