LOGIC OF CONCEALED WEAPONS

For the fifth consecutive year, the Missouri Legislature is on the verge of again failing to legalize concealed guns.

Last week, Sen. Danny Staples agreed to amend the concealed guns bill and put the issue to a vote of the people on Aug. 6. Putting the measure on the ballot would bypass Gov. Mel Carnahan's threatened veto of the bill.

Letting voters decide controversial issues might seems the most sensible approach, but it isn't necessarily appropriate in this case. As supporters of the bill point out, the right to bear arms is a civil right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. We wouldn't think of submitting to voters the issue of whether there ought to be freedom of speech. For the same reason, legislators need to recognize there is no compelling reason to restrict Missourians' rights to carry a gun.

The bill, with the amendment attached to put it on the ballot, failed in the Senate Wednesday by a single vote. Supporters say they hope to reintroduce the measure, but a revived bill faces a chilly reception in the House.

More amazing than the bill's failure -- this is, after all, the fifth try -- are the arguments by opponents of the bill. Urban lawmakers and others warn that a concealed guns law will increase gun violence.

But urban lawmakers should be the first to support the measure. Without it, gun violence has skyrocketed not only in cities, but also in rural areas. And yet Senate Majority Leader J.B. "Jet" Banks of St. Louis said that if supporters spent a weekend in St. Louis they would change their minds. But if Banks ever witnessed a defenseless victim gunned down by a criminal he might change his mind.

Sen. Phil Curls of Kansas City said: "The proliferation of guns is not the answer to escalated crime, as far as I'm concerned." Gun-toting thugs who prey on unarmed victims would agree.

It should be obvious by now that the system isn't working. Crime continues to escalate. Criminals go free after serving only a fraction of the prison time to which they were sentenced and without having to make restitution to their victims. Currently, the law favors the criminal, who can commit his crime without worrying about his own safety, since law-abiding citizens are unable to arm themselves. Changing the law would -- at the very least -- prompt caution in the criminals, who would think twice about using a gun knowing their victims might return the favor.

Forty-two other states have some form of concealed guns laws on the books. Violence hasn't increased in those states. In many of those states, violent crime is down. Missouri is overdue to become the 43rd state to allow its residents to carry guns to protect themselves and their property.