Concealed Weapons and the Missouri Constitution

[elSicomoro]

Exactly, Bruce. Like I said, things change.

Slang, I can tell you that allowing open carry (which is allowed with limitations, IIRC) would not resolve opposition.

Let me give you the perspective of an anti-CCW St. Louisan:

Guns are responsible for the violence and urban decay that has plagued the city for many years. They are a particular nuisance to the black community. If you allow CCW, gun battles will erupt on the streets, taking more innocent lives.

Now, let's look at the Sycamore perspective of St. Louis.

The problems that exist in St. Louis are caused by several factors, including:

--The City separating from the County in 1870.
--Deep-seated racial tensions, which still exist today.
--The incredible amount of time it seems to take to get anything done.
--The failure to fully tackle social and public health problems.

But instead of tackling these issues head on, they narrow the scope too much and come up with programs that only temporarily help the situation. Here's an example from 1992-93:

Problem: St. Louis is the murder capital of the US
Solution: Offer a gun buyback program. Give folks $50 for every handgun turned into police. No questions asked.

Okay, so you got some guns off the street. But once you quit offering the money, the number of guns returned bottomed out. And what kind of dent did it put in crime? Probably nothing that couldn't be explained by the nationwide trend of lower crime in the '90s.

Obviously, CCW does not tackle the real problems. But I think it's a start in the right direction.