Americans and their guns

[Lazarus 0]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/...62575130014DD3A

 

ST. LOUIS — Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe's neighborhood has seen nine

homicides in 10 months this year, more than all but one other section of the

city.

 

With gunplay wreaking havoc on his ward, Troupe thinks he has found an answer:

citizens arming themselves.

 

The alderman is pleading with constituents to get guns of their own — and learn

how to use them. Troupe, who represents a swatch of north St. Louis, is

encouraging residents to apply for concealed weapons permits so they can start

carrying a firearm.

 

The city's new police chief, among others, worries that introducing even more

guns into high-crime areas is a recipe for greater turmoil, not less.

 

Troupe, however, says he has lost faith in the Police Department and is urging

residents to take it upon themselves to protect their homes and property.

 

"These are God-fearing people. These are law-abiding citizens," Troupe, 72,

says. "They have a right to own a gun, and they have a right to carry a gun."

 

RECRUITING RESIDENTS

 

The state Legislature approved Missouri's "conceal and carry" law in 2003, even

after voters rejected a referendum four years earlier allowing individuals to

possess a hidden firearm.

 

Troupe, a former state representative, says he supported concealed weapons

legislation while in Jefferson City, and supports it now.

 

He declined to say whether he carries a gun. He is encouraging others to do so

because, he says, some parts of St. Louis are just too dangerous.

 

"You stop to help somebody that's in need of help, and you end up getting shot

and killed," Troupe said, referring to the Nov. 5 slaying of St. Louis

firefighter Leonard Riggins, shot during a carjacking by a someone he thought

was a motorist in need of assistance.

 

Though the shooting was north of the city line, the teenage gunman also had

been questioned in a murder in Troupe's ward.

 

Troupe is hoping to recruit residents from his 1st Ward and around the area to

take a firearms safety course, a requirement to qualify for a concealed weapons

permit. He has even made his pitch at City Hall — and he says several aldermen

have expressed interest in obtaining a permit.

 

For now, he says he has a list of around 40 residents who have indicated they

would like to take the weapons safety course. About 30 of them, he said, are

women.

 

"They are being terrorized by this criminal element out here," Troupe said.

"Their No. 1 priority is trying to keep their children alive. Their black, male

children. And that's a Herculean task."

 

One north St. Louis woman who already has her concealed weapons permit — and a

9 mm handgun to go with it — is Vivian Jones, who knows Troupe and supports

his gun push.

 

She has been robbed at gunpoint in her daughter's home in Troupe's ward. Just

recently, she witnessed a gunfire exchange outside her business, a dry

cleaners, in the city's Baden neighborhood, where she lives now.

 

For her 53rd birthday in June, Jones bought a handgun and began target

practicing regularly — and she has the bull's-eyes to prove it.

 

"I pray to God that I never have to use this," Jones said, pointing to her

waist holster. "But if I do, I'll have it."

 

DISSENTING OPINIONS

 

Inside Troupe's ward, which includes the Penrose and Mark Twain neighborhoods,

reaction to his concealed weapons push is mixed.

 

"It's not a solution, but it might help," said Larry Gibson, 46, while waiting

in a barbershop on Shreve Avenue. "You can have a gun and still get robbed,

still get killed. At least you have a fighting chance."

 

But Gary Brooks, 64, who was shopping at a produce store down the street,

suggested that Troupe is "out of touch with society right now."

 

"People are scared, they are nervous, they are angry," Brooks said. Bringing

guns into the equation, he said, "isn't going to do anything but add fuel to

the fire."

 

The view is shared by Police Chief Dan Isom, who took office in October. Though

Isom says he "can understand Alderman Troupe's frustration," citizens arming

themselves is "not something I necessarily support."

 

There could be, Isom says, unanticipated consequences, such as arguments that

escalate into shootings because of the presence of guns.

 

"I don't really want a society where everyone in the city of St. Louis is

carrying a gun," Isom said. "That, I don't think, is a recipe for a less

violent community."

 

Fellow Alderman Lyda Krewson is more direct in her criticism. She calls

Troupe's concealed weapons push "wacky" and "counterproductive."

 

Krewson, whose then-husband was shot and killed in front of their Central West

End home 13 years ago, was one of the state's leading critics of the 2003

concealed weapons law.

 

"The more guns that we have on the streets in the city of St. Louis — or

anywhere for that matter — the more guns are going to be stolen, and are going

to fall into the wrong hands," Krewson said.

 

GUNS' IMPACT

 

Laws allowing residents to carry concealed weapons are the subject of

passionate debate. Gun control advocates argue that they put communities at

greater risk, while groups such as the National Rifle Association assert that

"right to carry" laws have led to lower crime rates.

 

Last year, local law enforcement officials told the Post-Dispatch that

Missouri's concealed weapons law had no apparent impact on crime.

 

Even so, Troupe's bid may represent a certain desperation in parts of the city

where crime has proved an intractable foe.

 

Last month, St. Louis was ranked No. 4 on a list of U.S. cities with the most

crime — which is actually an improvement from two years ago, when St. Louis was

No. 1.

 

Reports of property crimes and violent crimes in St. Louis were down over 10

percent in 2007 from the previous year. Car thefts dropped as well.

 

Still, this year, the murder rate continues to climb. Through October, the city

recorded 148 homicides, more than all of last year. The Mark Twain

neighborhood, where Troupe lives, is on pace to match last year's total of 11.

 

Jones, the Baden woman who began carrying a gun this summer, said residents

need to do something instead of "keep being victims."

 

"I don't promote violence by any means. I'm a very spiritual person, and I

believe in the power of prayer," Jones said. "But times just aren't like they

used to be."

[Monkeys Fist 43705]

politics, crime and God... classic.

seriously though, how fucked up?

[Cid_MCDP 0]

North Saint has really gotten bad over the past 6 or 8 years. Metro-East cities have too- East Saint, Vienna, Brooklyn, etc. Lots and lots of jobs have left that area... it's easy enough to guess the rest.

 

Laz what's up with you and STL? I've seen a couple other STLtoday links from you on here. Did you live there at one time or something? I was over there in the late 90s and still have family in the Metro-East.

[Lazarus 0]

North Saint has really gotten bad over the past 6 or 8 years. Metro-East cities have too- East Saint, Vienna, Brooklyn, etc. Lots and lots of jobs have left that area... it's easy enough to guess the rest.

 

Laz what's up with you and STL? I've seen a couple other STLtoday links from you on here. Did you live there at one time or something? I was over there in the late 90s and still have family in the Metro-East.

 

Never lived there - I just post links to interesting stories.