Missouri knows common sense with guns. Why won’t we stop man-made horrors? | Opinion

It has been said many things set a true Missourian apart from the rest of the world — one claim being that a true Missourian washes his hands before visiting the washroom.

I think common sense and reasoning are other defining qualities.

When it was determined that reducing the shell capacity of shotguns for hunting upland birds would give the birds a sporting chance, no great uproar about constitutional rights was heard. Guns were simply plugged and the hunt continued.

Three rounds before reloading is fair to a covey of quail, while a 30 round clip is about right for a classroom of third-graders. The ability to quickly put 200 rounds into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters building in Atlanta seems to be a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

Using food or other attractions to lure animals to a location for shooting is called baiting. Baiting of wildlife is both dishonorable and illegal. Attracting starving people to a food distribution center and then shooting a few is baiting. So is shooting hundreds of attendees at a concert in Las Vegas, or dozens of moviegoers in Colorado.

I have detected no loud clamor from my fellow Missourians on these dishonorable acts. Have we lost our sense of fairness? Have we lost our power of reason? Have we become numb to such atrocities?

Thirty children killed by a madman is old news within a couple of weeks. We offer thoughts and prayers. We wring our hands. But no changes are made. We can’t do anything about a man-made horror, but when 27 camping girls and their counselors, along with dozens of others, are swept away and drown in an “act of God,” we are bound and determined to prevent its recurrence.

God beware: Texas has a new law!

Stan Robinson is a retired farmer, teacher and telephone cable splicer from Mercer County, Missouri.

This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 5:02 AM.