A fax sent to Governor Holden

Honorable Governor Holden:

I certainly appreciate the importance of decisions one must ponder when in  your position.

I also can only imagine the pressures you are getting on both sides related to House Bill 349. 

I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to allow HB349 to become law. It has been passed by the dignified members of both houses of the General Assembly with bipartisan support. In the spirit of the bipartisan support, and spirit of compromise that this bill has evolved, I ask that you  take an honest look at the bill, and allow it to become law.

I am sure you have a great deal of information... but if you have time to consider the comments of leaders in states where this issue has been addressed, here are three.

"As we have seen in other states and had predicted would occur in Texas, all the fears of the naysayers have not come to fruition. A lot of critics argued that the law-abiding citizens couldn't be trusted... But the facts do speak for themselves. None of these horror stories have materialized."
 -- Sheriff David Williams, Tarrant County, TX, Fort Worth Telegram, 7/17/96.

"The concerns I had - with more guns on the street, folks may be more apt to square off against one another with weapons - we haven't experienced that." 
-- Charlotte-Mecklenburg NC Police Chief Dennis Nowicki, The News and Observer, 11/24/97.

"I lobbied against the law in 1993 and 1995 because I thought it would lead to wholesale armed conflict. That hasn't happened. All the horror stories I thought would come to pass didn't happen. No bogeyman. I think it's worked out well, and that says good things about the citizens who have permits. I'm a convert." 
-- Glenn White, President of the Dallas Police Association, Dallas Morning News, December 23, 1997.

I sincerely appreciate your time.

The time is now to trust honest Missouri citizens. 

Thank you,

C. Michael Gamble
Saint Peters, Missouri, USA