Letter of the Week: Governor wrong on gun bill veto

Guns, legislature

As the House sponsor of SB 656, I believe that law-abiding Missourians have the right to defend themselves both in their homes and in public.

Unfortunately, the police simply cannot always be there at the moment a violent attack occurs.

Law-abiding citizens shouldn’t have to pay heavy fees and be put in a government database to protect themselves.

Unfortunately, Gov. Jay Nixon has chosen to veto this common-sense bill that was passed by a bipartisan super majority.

Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming have seen drops in murder rates since passing permitless carry statutes, which is why recently Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi and West Virginia have joined Missouri to pass similar legislation.

The anti-gun groups were wrong in 2003 when they said that law-abiding Missourians were going to all of a sudden start breaking the law and the Show-Me State would become like the wild West.

That never happened. They were wrong then, and they are wrong today.

I trust the law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their loved ones against violent attacks.

Rep. Eric Burlison of Battlefield, Mo., was first elected in 2008. He has been an application consultant for Cerner for four years and has worked in the field 14 years. He and his wife, Angie, have been married 13 years and have two daughters, 8-year-old Reese and 6-year-old Aubrey.

This story was originally published July 17, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Letter of the Week: Governor wrong on gun bill veto."