Half the KC Chiefs rally shooting victims were kids. Could the Missouri GOP care less? | Opinion

Even after at least nine children were treated for gunshot wounds at a Kansas City hospital, Missouri Republicans still won’t address the state’s loose gun laws.

And that stubborn resistance to reform is irresponsible if not outright dangerous.

One day after a mass shooting in Kansas City left one woman dead and 22 others injured by gunfire, including nearly a dozen minors under the age of 16, top GOP lawmakers and Gov. Mike Parson shrugged their shoulders at the calamity.

From the governor to House Speaker Dean Plocher to other elected officials such as state Sen. Bill Eigel of Charles County, the tone-deaf reaction to the shooting from leading Republicans wasn’t all that surprising.

When it comes to sensible gun laws, the GOP-controlled General Assembly reacts with the stubbornness of a Missouri mule, the state’s official animal. And that bullheadedness was on full display Thursday.

During an interview with a local radio host in Kansas City, Parson never bothered to use the word “gun.” He did, however, use language we all should condemn when describing the suspects.

“What happened yesterday with those thugs is not who we are in Missouri,” Parson told radio host Pete Mundo of KCMO Talk Radio.

Dog whistle? You bet. We found it difficult to ignore Parson’s screed, which continued: “You just got some absolutely — be careful what I say before I say something I’m gonna probably regret — but just a bunch of criminals, thugs out there, just killing people at an incident like that and attempting to kill all those people and created such chaos that people got hurt, being trampled.”

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Eigel, a candidate for Missouri governor, echoed Parson’s questionable talking points, erroneously writing: “One good guy with a gun could have stopped the evil criminals who opened fire on the crowd immediately. Guns don’t kill people. Thugs and criminals kill people.”

More than 800 law enforcement officials worked the Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, according to Kansas City police. Not even a heavy police presence could deter these shooters from opening fire, debunking this stale good guy with a gun myth.

Firearm safety is not a partisan issue

From what we can best tell, early reports indicate Trey Filter of Maize, Kansas, tackled a person suspected of being involved in this shooting. Filter’s wife, Casey Filter, was involved, too. Neither used a weapon to take down the figure seen on video running from the scene.

And then there was Plocher, the top Republican lawmaker in Missouri’s House of Representatives.

On Thursday, he refused to answer questions from a Kansas City Star reporter about the state’s lax gun laws. When pressed about the Union Station shooting, Plocher shut down a news conference. He said little about plans to prevent another mass shooting.

“Laws alone don’t solve the problem,” Plocher said, later adding: “We’re not going to dwell on Kansas City today.”

If the day after a mass shooting wasn’t the appropriate time to address gun violence, when would be a convenient time to discuss this pressing issue, Speaker? Your abject failure of leadership must be called out.

Gun safety is not a matter of right versus left or conservative versus liberal. Nor should the debate fall along party lines. When kids are seriously injured by gunfire and an innocent mother is killed, lawmakers have a duty to address ways to prevent these sorts of shootings.

Not in Missouri, though. This week, lawmakers doubled down on the state’s gun laws, rated the nation’s 38th weakest by Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun safety think tank. Only 12 other states have weaker legislation.

In a positive development, House Republicans scrapped two gun-related bills, including a measure that would have allowed concealed weapons on public transit and inside churches and other places of worship. That proposal, House Bill 1708 would have further relaxed gun laws in our state. Earlier this month, the measure, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Adam Schnelting of St. Charles, had been placed on the House calendar.

Missouri state Sen. Nick Schroer, a St. Charles Republican, filed a similar bill. Last month, Senate Bill 1166 was referred to the public safety committee. We see no valid reason for this legislation to proceed.

Here, no permit is necessary for anyone over the age of 18 to carry a concealed weapon. No training is required either. Background checks are not mandated. According to anti-gun violence advocates with Everytown for Gun Safety and the Missouri NAACP, this unfettered access to guns contributed to a record number of homicides in Kansas City — 185 killings were recorded just last year.

Half of firearm violence victims under 16

Kansas City’s mass shooting victims ranged from 8 to 47, according to Kansas City Police. Half of the victims were under 16.

Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a 44-year-old Johnson County mother of two, was shot and died on the grounds of Union Station after the victory parade and rally ended, her brother Beto Lopez told The Star.

A Leavenworth family and others were among a total of 39 people treated for various injuries related to the shooting.

Friday, we learned two teens were being held at the Juvenile Detention Center in Kansas City on gun-related and resisting arrest charges, according to a written statement issued by the family court division of Jackson County Circuit Court. The investigation is ongoing, according to Kansas City Police. More charges related to Wednesday’s mass shooting cannot be ruled out, police said.

Liberals are not coming for your guns

Law-abiding citizens in Missouri who own guns need not worry. No one — not even the federal government — has a right to take your firearm from you, a long-held argument and perhaps the biggest misconception about the right to bear arms.

But people under 21 should not have the right to carry a concealed handgun or rifle without the proper training, permit or a background check.

Allowing unchecked access to weapons is as much to blame for Wednesday’s mass shooting in Kansas City as any other underlying factor.

Will Republicans in Missouri see it that way? Based on Thursday’s reaction, our guess is no.

We call on elected officials in Missouri to set partisan politics aside and do what’s best for all Missourians: Enact sensible reform to the state’s concealed weapons law.

More guns on the streets will not make us safer.

This story was originally published February 16, 2024 at 5:01 AM.