IT'S UP TO VOTERS TO DECIDE RIGHT-TO-CARRY

Missouri Secretary of State Bekki Cook is scrambling to rewrite a ballot measure on the right to carry concealed weapons and get copies distributed by Tuesday, the deadline to get them on the April 6 ballot. Cook's challenge follows a ruling Thursday by a Cole County circuit judge striking down the ballot language approved by the Legislature last year. The judge held that while the Legislature can pass a bill creating the ballot measure, it can't dictate the wording Missourians will see when they cast their votes. The judge's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a group of Missourians.

The ballot measure, if approved, would make anyone over age 21 eligible to apply for an $80 permit to carry a concealed weapon. Those receiving the license would have to undergo 12 hours of training and renew the license every three years. Past felony or misdemeanor convictions would disqualify an applicant, as would a dishonorable discharge from the military or being a known alcohol or drug abuser.

Citizens of more than 30 states already exercise this right under similar legislation. Another 10 states have passed more restrictive laws allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons laws. Missouri therefore belongs to the small minority of states that have no such laws.

It can fairly be assumed that Cook will meet this week's deadline in supplying ballot language and that the vote -- the first time the issue has been placed before voters in any state -- will go forward. The battle lines are therefore set for what promises to be an epic struggle. Both supporters and opponents will spend heavily to try to affect the outcome, and voter turnout will likely prove decisive. At the April school board and city elections last year, a mere 12 percent of Missouri voters turned out.

Count this newspaper squarely among right-to-carry supporters. It is time Missourians enjoyed this logical extension of the natural right to self-defense. Among states that have passed it include hugely populous states such as Florida and Texas, where crime rates have fallen and none of the horror stories imagined by opponents have come to pass. Voters should endorse right to carry April 6.