LET VOTERS DECIDE ON CONCEALED WEAPONS

Week before last, two Missouri House committees sent to the full House sharply differing bills dealing with gun owners' rights.

First, there was this year's version of the concealed-weapons bill that is already law in 31 other states across America. This bill is sponsored by state Rep. Wayne Crump, D-Potosi, and in contrast to previous years it contains a referendum clause that would send the measure to a vote of the people. In this respect it resembles a companion bill introduced again this year by Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau. Gov. Carnahan has said he will veto any such measure that doesn't contain a referendum clause but that he will remain neutral should that election occur.

The idea for a Missouri referendum originated with the National Rifle Association last year, but since then, the NRA has joined other pro-gun groups in opposing the pubic vote they had suggested. This state confusion has once again clouded chances for passage of concealed-carry in Missouri. In recent years, as Missouri has dawdled, state after state has passed it. Democratic governors have signed it into law in neighboring Tennessee (1994) and Kentucky (1996). Hugely populous states such as Florida and Texas have had it on the books for years now. Evidence piles up that conceal-carry is a positive step toward crime control and evening the score between criminals and the law-abiding folks on whom they prey. We hope Missouri doesn't turn out to be the last state in the union to pass it.

Then there is a bill sponsored by one of the most liberal members of the House that won committee approval more narrowly. This bill would create special punishment for leaving loaded firearms accessible to children. Predictably, proponents pointed to the bloody rampage at the middle school in Jonesboro, Ark., that week, and before that in Paducah, Ky., as arguments for passage.

Perhaps. We will reserve judgment on this measure until more is known about its exact provisions. A well-armed and well-trained citizen passer-by or school official might have stopped those two boys from their dreadful errand sooner had he or she enjoyed the chance. This is precisely what happened at the school in Pearl, Miss., last fall, with far less loss of life.