At 10:10 a.m. on an otherwise unremarkable spring day in May 1992, chaos erupted in the St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton.

Just moments before their divorce was to be final, 53-year-old Kenneth Baumruk reached into his briefcase, withdrew a pistol and shot and killed his wife, Mary Louise Baumruk, who at 46 was trying to escape a life of domestic abuse.

Baumruk's rampage didn't stop until he shot and injured two lawyers, a bailiff and a security guard.

Security, which had been lax at the Clayton courthouse, immediately was tightened. To this day, it is stronger than security at other courthouses in the St. Louis region. In most courthouses, visitors must enter through metal detectors; in Clayton the security is tight enough that visitors also have to remove belts, shoes and jackets, much like at an airport.

Two area lawmakers, lawyers Tim Jones, R-Eureka, and Mike Colona, D-St. Louis, have filed state legislation that would exempt attorneys from the indignity and time wasted passing through the metal detectors to enter the building where they practice their craft.

We understand Mr. Jones' and Mr. Colona's worries about their fellow court officials' convenience.

But before they push this bill too far, we think they should remember another incident involving a lawyer and a courthouse in May 1992.

Just a couple of weeks after Ms. Baumruk's tragic death, the brash and inimitable lawyer and state Rep. Elbert A. Walton Jr. was seeking entry into the city courthouse downtown.

Mr. Walton flashed his badge and told the security guard to let him bypass security.

The guard said no. Mr. Walton protested.

"I can understand making other people, including lawyers, walk through that thing," he said. The incident was memorialized at the time by Post-Dispatch reporter Michael Sorkin. "If you don't trust a member of the Legislature, whom do you trust?" Mr. Walton pleaded.

The deputies didn't budge. Meanwhile, they pointed out that Mr. Walton's vehicle, which was parked in a handicapped spot, was being ticketed.

Perhaps it's appropriate that Mr. Jones is supporting the bill to offer special privileges to lawyers in Clayton. If there's any state lawmaker who knows about special privileges, it's Mr. Jones, who in 2010 received nearly $7,000 in special privileges from lobbyists in the forms of meals, golf outings and tickets to concerts and sporting events.

Mr. Jones, it seems, doesn't stand in line. Neither does Mr. Colona, who counts two World Series tickets worth $500 among the more than $5,000 in gifts he accepted last year.

We doubt the representatives want to be compared to the legendary Mr. Walton. If they don't, they should drop their silly legislation.

Some of the judges, police officers and court officials who walk into the Clayton courthouse every day still remember in stark, vivid detail the madness of the events of May 5, 1992. It is worth noting that the very day Mr. Baumruk struck, a committee of court personnel was meeting on the same floor to discuss the need for better security.

Could the Clayton courthouse dial down the metal detectors so that folks don't have to take off shoes and belts? Perhaps that is worth considering.

But the last thing they need are state lawmakers meddling in their local affairs.