‘It is astonishing to me’: KC mayor lauds federal gun law, decries Westport shooting
As he listened to President Joe Biden’s talk about a new gun law at the White House Monday morning, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said he thought about the Sunday night shooting in Westport that killed one person and injured five others.
He thought about the number of such incidents that mayors across the country are dealing with.
Twice, the president mentioned that the leading cause of death for children is related to firearms.
“It is astonishing to me that we can live in a country where that continues to be the case,” Lucas told The Star that afternoon.
Lucas was visiting Washington, D.C., alongside Kansas City Police Department Interim Chief Joe Mabin. Monday morning’s event was to celebrate the signing of the Safer Communities Act, a bipartisan measure passed last month and signed into law by Biden that marks the most significant attempt by federal lawmakers to address the issue in nearly 30 years.
The event gave Lucas “a little bit of renewed hope,” he said, when changes to gun laws in Kansas and Missouri can be difficult.
But ahead of the visit, he told The Star that people take a risk going into any entertainment district — not just in Kansas City, but across the country.
A week ago, four people were shot after a concert at the T-Mobile Center, across from the Power & Light District.
Sunday’s shooting began when a fight that started inside Westport Ale House moved outside, said Sgt. Bill Lowe, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Three off-duty Kansas City police officers in uniform who were working security at the bar then exited and shot back.
“If everybody’s got a gun, and everybody’s already in a shootout mentality, the tragedies will keep happening, even if officers are just mere feet away,” Lucas said. “The guns are a huge part of the problem.”
Lucas said usually, it’s the mayor’s job to tell people they’ll be safe and have a good time wherever they go.
“I don’t think there’s a mayor in America no matter the size of the city who can make that pledge,” Lucas said.
Even walking around the nation’s capital, with thousands of law enforcement, he said he couldn’t be 100% sure he was safe.
Lucas pointed to two issues in Missouri: the lack of a required permit to carry concealed weapons and the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which prohibits local police from enforcing certain federal gun restrictions.
“We are taking tools away from our police officers so that they can’t keep themselves or our communities safe,” Lucas said.
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 6:35 PM.
