State lawmakers consider concealed guns on public transit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers on Wednesday began considering legislation that would allow people to carry concealed guns onto public buses and city trains.

The bill by Sen. Bob Onder, a Republican from Lake St. Louis, is the latest legislative effort to expand where people can carry firearms. In addition to the public transit proposals -- which failed last year in both chambers -- lawmakers also are considering whether to require colleges and universities to allow concealed weapons onto campuses.

Republicans have framed those issues as a matter of constitutional rights as well as personal safety, though gun-control activists say more weapons only increase the likelihood of somebody getting hurt.

"I think all of us are concerned about safety. We obviously have different ideas on how to get there," said Sen. Bob Dixon, a Springfield Republican who sponsored legislation to allow concealed guns on college campuses.

State law classifies carrying a concealed weapon on public transit as a felony.

Onder told a Senate panel public transit can be dangerous, and allowing people to carry concealed guns on buses and trains would deter crime. Banning guns on public transit means people don't have access to their weapons after they arrive at their destination, he said.

"It disarms poor people," Onder said.

Mass transit representatives for St. Louis, Springfield and Kansas City opposed the legislation, saying cities should be able to regulate their own public transportation. The bill would not apply to Amtrak trains. Onder's office said the bill would not apply to taxis, though a House bill would.

St. Louis' Metro Transit already contracts 160 police officers in addition to 125 private security guards, said Kathi Harness, a lobbyist who spoke on behalf of the Bi-State Development Agency, which operates the transit system. Administrators analyze crime statistics each week to determine where they should deploy security, she said.

The Bi-State Development Agency did not respond to a request Wednesday for crime statistics.

Rep. Ron Hicks, a Republican from St. Peters who sponsored similar legislation in the House, said he has asked for those statistics for two years and still hasn't seen them.

"They keep stating that they added more police officers, more this, more that -- go ride the train right now. Good luck finding someone to help you," he said.

Mary Haggerty, who spoke on behalf of Missouri's chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said the "histrionics" over the St. Louis crime rate shouldn't cause people to lose perspective about what happens when more people carry guns.

"It will jeopardize the safety of bystanders if and when shootings begin," she said. "Whether they're accidents or bad judgment, things happen."