PROPOSITION B: LOCAL EXCHANGE EXAMINES TUESDAY'S BALLOT MEASURE

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Price says common sense tells him that Proposition B, Missouri's concealed-weapons measure, is bad news.

But Greg Jeffery, a firearms instructor and president of the Second Amendment Coalition of Missouri, says law-abiding Missourians should have the right to protect themselves.

Price and Jeffery squared off during a lunchtime Common Hour debate Wednesday in Southeast Missouri State University's Glenn Auditorium. About 100 people, mostly students, listened to the debate.

Missourians will go to the polls Tuesday to decide the ballot issue. If approved, Missourians legally would be able to carry concealed handguns for the first time since 1875.

A Vietnam veteran, Price has prosecuted criminals and also defended them in his legal career.

"I cannot think of one good reason to pass a law to allow citizens to carry loaded, concealed handguns in public," he said.

Passage of Proposition B would put more handguns into circulation. "Since guns can kill, more guns can kill more people," said Price.

Price said Missourians would end up carrying loaded guns into all sorts of establishments, including hospitals, amusement parks, day-care centers and stadiums.

More handguns also would end up being concealed in the glove compartments of cars where they could be in reach of curious children, he said. The result, said Price, could be a deadly accident.

But Jeffery said Proposition B opponents are trying to scare voters. "Don't be scared," he told the crowd.

Jeffery said he and others have pushed for a right-to-carry law in Missouri for seven years.

"For seven years, we have debated this, and during that time 14 states have passed this," he said.

Forty-three states have some type of right-to-carry law. Of those, 31 have "shall-issue" concealed-weapons laws. The other 12 states leave the issuance of concealed-gun permits up to the discretion of law enforcement officials.

Jeffery said passage of Proposition B won't lead to shoot-outs everywhere.

"It's not happened in other states. It won't happen in Missouri," he said.

Law-abiding citizens shouldn't be prevented from protecting themselves, Jeffery said. The state's current prohibition against concealed guns hasn't disarmed criminals, he said.

Retired police officers and trial witnesses face threats from criminals, and they should be given the right to arm themselves, Jeffery said.

Southeast political science professors Russell Renka and Rick Althaus asked several questions toward the end of the session.

Renka questioned a study done by University of Chicago professor John Lott that indicates that concealed-weapons laws have led to a reduction in violent crime.

Renka said Lott's analysis focused on crime statistics from 1977 to 1992. He said Lott's study didn't take into account all of the factors that might have had an effect on crime.

Price doesn't put stock in Lott's analysis.

"I think that liars figure and figures lie," he said.

Price argued that the federal Brady Bill and its registration of guns has been one reason for a nationwide drop in violent crime.

Price said concealed guns won't make the streets safer. Crimes often are committed with little thought on the part of criminals, he said.

"We have to give up some of our rights as citizens if we want to act like a civilized country," said Price.

But Jeffery said Proposition B is a good measure.

Missouri would have one of the strictest concealed-weapons laws in the nation if Proposition B passes, he said. Firearms training and criminal background checks will be required.

Gang members won't go to the sheriff's departments to register to carry concealed handguns, Jeffery said.