PHOTO BY QUINN WILSON
Alderwoman Cara Spencer has a new proposal to make it harder for people to openly carry loaded guns on St. Louis streets.
Alderwoman Cara Spencer, who filed the board bill for introduction this Friday, says that while Missouri law does not require concealed-carry permits, it gives municipalities the right to require them for anyone who wants to openly carry a firearm within its borders. Kansas City already does so — and lawyers Spencer consulted believe it would be one way to restrict some firearms in St. Louis, even with Missouri's notoriously lax gun laws.
"I believe this has worked in Kansas City," she says. "A careful review of state statute says we can do this."
And that's because not just anybody can get a permit. For one thing, only people age 19 or older — or people 18 and up who are in the military — qualify, which means a city ordinance would automatically strip most teens of their right to pack heat in public places (which, let's face it, has been a problem in downtown St. Louis and other popular neighborhoods for partying). Getting a concealed-carry permit almost entails completing firearms safety training.
Beyond that, Spencer says, it would give police a tool for dealing with troublemakers no matter their age, since they couldn't openly tote firearms without being able to produce evidence of their concealed-carry status if cops ask. If they can't, well, "when someone's breaking the law, you can confiscate the evidence," she notes.
Spencer emailed her colleagues on the Board of Aldermen today asking them to co-sign onto her proposal. "State law does not allow any restrictions on concealed weapons, but the open carrying of firearms has been an increasing and terrifying threat to residents, visitors and the St. Louis community as a whole," she wrote.
She likes her chances of success. "This is a tool we badly need," she tells the RFT. "I don't think anybody can argue we need to have the right to openly carry firearms throughout St. Louis."
She adds, "This could be a game-changer for downtown."
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