Fortunately before I came to St. Louis I checked the carry laws. I knew that MO accepted all permits, so my MN permit would allow me to carry; but I discovered that it is a FELONY to carry on a bus. Fortunately a rural Democrat is working to correct that problem . . .
Rep. Ed Sheiffer of Troy, MO has introduced a bill to allow permit holders to lawfully carry on MetroLink (St. Louis mass transit system) trains and buses. Missouri Statue 578.305:
Bus hijacking, definition, penalty–assault with intent to commit bus hijacking, penalty, with a deadly weapon, penalty–possession and concealment of deadly weapon by passenger, penalty, exception.
states that:
Any passenger who boards a bus with a dangerous or deadly weapon or other means capable of inflicting serious bodily injury concealed upon his person or effects
is committing a felony (unfortunately your humble reporter was unable to find any definition for the term dangerous or deadly weapon leading him to wonder if his 15 EEEEEE (yes, sextuple E) shoes qualify). The statute only has exceptions for cops, security personnel carrying in thecourse and scope of their employment and people with permission of the bus owner.
The first committee vote on Rep. Sheiffer’s bill is coming up in the next week; he says that he anticipates no problems from his Republican colleagues, but his metro Dem colleagues are pressuring him to pull the bill and are stating that they will not support it. Their “logic” is that some panty-soiling-hysterics urban commuters will avoid using the metro system if they know that fellow passengers may be carrying guns.
Left unstated is why those same people aren’t avoiding the transit system now given the recent rash of assaults and robberies on the trains and buses and at some stations but hoplophobes frequently have trouble with actual logic and rational thought.
If the democrat lawmakers rode the bus they would feel differently. Take the metro to work for a month instead of piloting the Lexus into the secure parking lot and after a few people ask if they can spare a few dollars and their watch you’ll see this pass.
Well like myself not all democrats are leftist tree hugging gun grabbing, dolphin loving granola freaks!
Ok I have to admit, I like trees, and dolphins are pretty cool too.. 🙂
Good to see someone, anyone is looking at things from a subjective point of view.
Change the wording on the little things, and get the laws more even keel as it were.
So what do you have against granola?
More proof that this is not a liberal/conservative issue. It’s an urban/rural issue, if anything.
Republicans like Ronald Reagan, Sarah Brady, and Michael Bloomberg support disarmament. Democrats like Senator Jon Tester and this guy, along with independent liberals such as myself support freedom.
Excellent stuff. Some wise man (or was it a wise guy?) had this to say 😛
(blatant self promotion)
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/01/josh-grabow/our-greatest-victory-will-not-be-when-republicans-win-an-election-but-when-the-democratic-party-no-longer-supports-gun-control/
Think of it this way. As it stands, no Republican can propose gun control without catching flak from his own side. Guys like Ed Sheiffer bring us closer to that being true for both sides of the political SNAFU.
Critics of this bill are ignoring the obvious fact that a bus or train is a means of transportation from a place where it is legal to be armed to another such place. By outlawing guns in the middle of the trip (on the bus or train), you have effectively outlawed the legal bearing of arms to large portions of the population (the poorer people, the young, and the very old).
Is that the true intention of their criticism of this bill?
By outlawing guns in the middle of the trip (on the bus or train), you have effectively outlawed the legal bearing of arms to large portions of the population (the poorer people, the young, and the very old).
By “enlightened” design.
This only makes sense. As I commented in the other MetroLink thread, they don’t even allow unloaded, cased weapons on their conveyances. Want to take the airport shuttle into town? Nope, get a cab or call a friend. Whoever made that rule wasn’t thinking clearly.
Contrary to prior belief, some of us democrats are gun-loving and all for concealed carry everywhere! Just come to Kentucky, where most of our pro-gun bills are written by democrats.
I agree that it sounds foolishly inconsistent to allow concealed carry and prohibit it on buses.
You know, with all of we liberal gun owners coming out of the woodwork here, we really should organize a range day or somesuch. 🙂
Until I started ridesharing with some coworkers, I was 100% on Metro; either take a bus or park at N Hanley and get off @ 8th & Pine, reverse; rinse and repeat. Several times for one reason or another I’d have to take the #32 all the way to my office or home again. I felt naked stading on the street waiting for my connection from the #32 to the #61 so I could get home or else walking to/from the bus stop by my house.
This bill would resolve these fears as I would have the means to defend myself that I would have if I drove my car.
Back to the ‘off topic’ start, time to pimp an organization I am a member of.
http://www.theliberalgunclub.com
The site is accurate with one potential change, we are discussing axing the ‘high capacity magazine’ stance.
Comments are closed.