Shot in the dark? Slay pans alderman’s concealed weapons push
Troupe, left, and Slay
As covered in today’s paper, Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe — whose north St. Louis ward has been ravaged by crime — wants law-abiding residents to get concealed weapons permits to protect themselves.
Today, Mayor Francis Slay said he thinks that’s an awful idea — and suggested Troupe’s motive might be more than just public safety.
“His bad idea, which will be on news websites all the country today, coincides with the candidate filing period for his own reelection,” the mayor writes on his website today. “While it is true that Missouri law allows most of its citizens to purchase, possess, and carry handguns, it is also true that some of the most violent crimes in the alderman’s ward are committed by criminals wielding handguns once owned by law-abiding citizens.”
Instead, Slay urges Troupe to encourage his constituents to cooperate with police, or lobby Jefferson City to end state control of the police department.
Meanwhile, Slay offers a reminder for Troupe: Don’t pack heat at work. State law restricts who can bring a concealed gun into a government building.
“I have reminded the public safety director that City Hall is not exempt from the state’s concealed carry regulations,” Slay wrote. “Even for aldermen.”
Glad to hear an Alderman finally gets it. The police cannot protect everybody from violent crime, it is an individuals responsibility to protect him or her self and family. One way is to be armed and trained in how to use your weapon. Next it’s time to take away the “victim disarmament zones” such as the government buildings from where law abiding people cannot carry their protection. This mayor and police chief is the typical liberal politician who have no FACTS to back their position.
Mayor Slay is a dispicable man. His remarks imply that Troupe is to iggnorant to know the law.
Well, in this case, Troupe is the party that has it right and is looking out for the real well being of the public. An armed society is a polite society, and the rising rate of homicides and all other forcible felonies in this region show that to be true. If more citizens would exercise thier God given right that is allowed them under the second amendment than there wouldn’t be this uprising by the scum of the region. Your scum would have to think twice about it’s next crime because they would have the fear of a possibly armed citizen.
As someone that works closely with law enforcement, I know that police can’t possibly be everywhere at once and relying on them for your sole source of protection is an arrogant and ignorant thing to do. It is extremely rare that any law enforcement agency gets to the scene of any crime before it the crime is commited. So how does that help the mother of one that is calling because her astranged husband is trying to break in her appartment? It doesn’t! The average time for any responding officer is 20 minutes. 20 minutes, That’s not good for the person fearing for thier life.
So to Troupe, I say, good job. You are doing more for your community by saying this than they are willing to do for themselves. And to Mayor Slay, you are an arrogant coward that fears an armed populous.
I agree with Steve. Cite your sources for the statistics. Are they being stolen from people in that ward/district, or even that state? With the 20,000+ laws that are currently on the books, let’s enforce them instead of allowing all these plea bargains.
Regardless of where the guns are coming from currently, let’s look at what is actually proposed. The guns these people will possess will be remarkably harder to steal when they are on their hip. I live in St. Louis and I have a CCW permit which means that instead of my firearm being at home locked up in my bedroom, it’s on my hip. Some people may be shocked and repulsed by this, I don’t care. It was on my hip when the teen-aged kid pulled a gun on me to car jack me at Kingshyway and Manchester late one night. The mayor and chief of police can spout their feel good theory, but that was my reality, being able to “bring my gun to bear” stopped him from continuing. I didn’t have to shoot, but just him seeing my gun sent him packing.
The second time I defended myself was at home, and my wife and I did NOT shoot ourselves contrary to that bogus statistic that we were more likely to be harmed by our own weapon. This is in response to those who state that only the police should have guns and that we should rely on them. My wife called and told 911 that someone was trying to break in the home. All the police knew was that a woman was calling from an address and that someone was breaking into her house. Would anyone like to guess how long it took our St. Louis police to respond? After I chased them off, it was 39 minutes before police responded. What could someone do to your wife or loved ones in 39 minutes? Your rhetoric, statistics and debate is worthless to me. I am now a REALIST that was forced to face REALITY, and this is now OUR REALITY!
Kudos to the post from Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum.
Unfortunately the schools here in St Louis no longer teach Latin (the kids now barely know english, but have their ebonics down pat).
Sic Vis Pacem Para Bellum translates as “If you want/desire peace, prepare for war”.
It sounds like north city is a war zone, so follow the Boy Scout motto and “Be prepared”.