Hindsight from The New Gun Week April 20, 1999
Urban Voters Defeat Prop B In
Missouri
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
The ghost of Jesse James rode through the major cities of Missouri
on April 6, awakening 20th century fears that caused urban voters to
flip levers against Proposition B, a statewide referendum that would
have authorized a right-to-carry law in the state.
Big-city fears about concealed firearms-fueled by Hillary Rodham
Clinton, Gov. Mel Carnahan, US attorneys, major league sports
franchises, mayors and police chiefs, the media and religious
leaders-overpowered rural Missouri's support for Prop B to defeat the
nation's first statewide referendum on concealed firearms.
Nearly every one of Missouri's rural counties supported the
concealed-carry issue, but the voters in the state's urban centers
dictated the election.
St. Louis, St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Kansas City, St.
Joseph, Columbia and Jefferson City rejected it. In Springfield, the
issue passed, but just barely, according to The St. Louis Post
Dispatch.
With 99% of Missouri's precincts reporting the day after the vote,
the right-to-carry proposal had received 625,689 "Yes"
votes, or 48%, to 674,378 "No" votes, or 52%.
The National Rifle Association reportedly invested $3.7 million in
the Prop B campaign to the opposition's almost $1 million. However,
apparently that was not enough to overcome the tremendous advantage in
voter access that was assembled by the powerful alliance of political,
media and religious opposition.
According to The Post-Dispatch, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert
McCulloch was among the law enforcement officers who opposed the
measure because they feared it would court trouble: "We don't
want to be going back to the old Wild West days with everyone wearing
a gun."
The James Gang were not the only outlaws plying their trade in the
years after the War Between the States that turned Missouri into a
guerrilla battleground, but James was the Wild West's most notorious
outlaw. He was a native of Kearney, MO. In answer to the lawlessness
of those days, the state banned concealed weapons in 1875, seven years
before James was shot to death in St. Joseph, by a member of his own
gang. The outcome of the April 6 election preserves the state's
124-year-old prohibition against concealed firearms.
Drinking Schlafly beer, according to The Post-Dispatch, opponents
of Proposition B began celebrating at the Chase Park-Plaza Hotel
shortly before 11 p.m. when late returns showed that Prop B lost in
St. Louis County by more than 100,000 votes.
Many anti-gunners touted the defeat of Prop B as a turning point in
their battle against concealed carry laws. Indeed, the first every
popular vote on the issue was seen as a litmus test across the
country, particularly in other states where the right-to-carry is a
hot issue, such as neighboring Kansas and Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado
and Ohio.
However, it seems that the vote may be too close to predict any
domino theories. The language of right-to-carry laws in each state
varies, and the issue is more rationally debated by elected
representatives who are more likely to view the real evidence rather
than the deceptive promotions of the anti-gunners.
Carl Wolf, the Hazelwood police chief and president-elect of the
Missouri Police Chiefs Association, thanked Missouri voters for
turning out in numbers greater than predicted.
The Rev. B.T. Rice, president of the St. Louis Clergy Coalition,
which was part of a last-minute campaign from church pulpits across
the state on Easter Sunday, pumped his fist in the air in jubilation.
Fred Myers, the campaign manager of Missourians Against Crime, the
principal proponents' group, conceded the election at 11:05 p.m. at a
hotel in Jefferson City, according to The Post-Dispatch. Myers, whose
political consulting firm is based in Maryland, said the fight was not
over but that there would not be another referendum on the issue in
Missouri.
"The people won't get the right-to-carry until there's a
pro-gun governor," Myers said. Missouri became the first state in
the country to hold a referendum on concealed firearms to get around
Gov. Mel Carnahan, who had blocked legislative action for seven years
by saying he would veto a concealed firearms measure if it reached his
desk. Carnahan's daughter, Robin, was chair of the leading opposition
committee.
Myers criticized the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Kansas City
Star. He said opponents' television commercials that featured an Uzi
and said child molesters would get permits had helped defeat the
issue. "The ads weren't true," Myers said. "They ran a
classic negative campaign."
While Myers said the national press may try to write the obituary
of the NRA, the organization "will come back like the (Energizer)
bunny."
He said that St. Louis County was the "Achilles' heel" of
the proponents' campaign.
"As soon as we got those numbers in we knew there was no way
to recover," Myers said. He said he believed voters were
"scared out of their wits by the distortions" that opponents
put out.
Myers said he had traveled throughout Missouri during the campaign
and that people were confident that Prop B would pass.
Last Minute Shift
"The fact that it was pulled out from under them at the last
minute, that's not going to set too well," Myers said.
Myers also complained about the forces arrayed against the
proposal.
"How do you fight against the governor, first lady, the
Justice Department?" Myers asked.
Hillary Clinton's voice was featured in an anti-B telephone message
sent to over 75,000 potential voters, mostly women in urban centers.
The statewide turnout-more than 1 million votes-was greater than
anticipated and may have set a record for an April election. Secretary
of State Bekki Cook had predicted 25% of the state's registered
voters-about 900,000-would vote on April 6.
Although the measure was approved in 91 mostly rural counties, it
failed by wide margins in St. Louis and Kansas City.
Nearly three out of four voters in St. Louis and a similar
percentage in the city's suburbs rejected the proposal. In Jackson
County, which includes Kansas City, 61% voted "No."
Pulpits & Pickups
Using pulpits and pickup trucks, activists in a statewide battle
over Proposition B campaigned hard in the final days before Missouri
voters decided its fate, according to Associated Press. At the same
time, the opposition campaign dumped most of its television
advertising into the final push.
Among the pulpits was the New Northside Baptist Church, a spiritual
cornerstone in a mostly black St. Louis neighborhood that is
occasionally rocked by gunfire and death.
The Rev. William J. Ellis, who has led the church for more than a
quarter of a century, urged his worshippers to reject Proposition B
because "that way, we won't have to get a metal detector for
those entering the church house."
The message was the same in a coordinated appeal to
congregations-with pastors criticizing Proposition B as
loophole-ridden, unsafe and too risky for children.
Many worshippers at Easter ceremonies were quietly reverent but
unswayed in their support for concealed guns.
Steve McCauley, who lives in an older section of St. Louis known as
Dutchtown, said his 90-year-old neighbor "is afraid of her shadow
and won't let anybody in but the postman."
So when his pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church
"asked us to consider voting against it" during his Easter
sermon, McCauley quietly kept his support for Proposition B to
himself.
Supporters of Proposition B were apprehensive that their side of
the story wasn't being told.
Greg Jeffery, 40, insisted that his state-by-state research showed
Proposition B's background checks and other provisions to be among the
strongest of states with concealed gun laws.
"The history of this in other states shows that people act
safely, responsibly and peaceably when conceal carry is
implemented," he said.
Charlton Heston
Award-winning actor and NRA President Charlton Heston campaigned on
behalf of Prop B in the state and at a rally in Springfield.
But the mayors of St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia were linking
up with Proposition B foes for campaign-ending news conferences in
those cities.
Both sides planned to congregate outside Busch Stadium to
distribute literature to St. Louis Cardinals fans; the baseball club
is officially on the record against Proposition B, amid concerns about
hidden guns making sports turn deadly.
As submitted by the Legislature, Proposition B would have provided
a system whereby people age 21 years and older could have applied for
permits to carry concealed handguns. A sheriff would have had the
authority to issue the permit if the person passes a background check
and a handgun safety course.
Since 1987, the legislatures in 24 states had enacted
concealed-carry laws with the NRA's encouragement. The trend stalled,
however, three years ago. Since then gun advocates have been on the
defensive as Congress considers gun safety measures and some cities
have sued manufacturers over deaths caused by their products.
Thirty-one states have laws similar to what Missouri voters
rejected April 6. Nineteen others either prohibit concealed guns or
sharply restrict them.
Prop B proponents said Missouri residents deserved the right to
armed self-protection that was available in other states.
Campaign Themes
They said criminals, who are already armed, would think twice
before attacking someone who might be able to shoot back. Opponents
said the measure would mean more guns in public places, increasing the
risks of accidental shootings and of confrontations turning deadly.
They also said Prop B was so loosely written that stalkers and child
molesters could qualify for a permit.
Outside polling places April 6, according to The Post-Dispatch, a
sampling of sentiment made it clear that Proposition B was the biggest
attraction. Backers and opponents cut across gender, race and age.
"I feel that people are carrying guns anyway, so I think it
could be a deterrent for robbers if they think you might have
one," said Verna Cole, a retiree who maneuvered her walker after
voting for the measure at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in
Florissant.
In Jennings, 85-year-old Leo Glowacki felt just the opposite.
"People are going to be walking around with guns in their
pockets at schools and shopping centers," Glowacki said after
casting his "No" vote at Jennings High School. "We've
got police for that."
One man told The Post-Dispatch that he had been a backer of Prop B
until he read the ballot language in the booth. He underwent a
last-minute conversion and joined his wife in opposition. The hang-up
was Proposition B's estimated annual cost of $500,000 to $1 million to
local governments. The financial issue was introduced to the ballot
title after anti-gun forces won a court fight to have it re-written.
One reason for that conversion, and why the referendum failed at
the last minute was the final Proposition B ballot language itself,
re-written because of the anti-gunners, which included the claim that
the $35 fee would not cover the "costs" of issuing the
license. This amazing "cooking of the books" ran counter to
evidence from other states where lower license fees are not a problem.
The opposition campaign was fraught with outlandish claims and
advertising. One example was the opposition TV ad which featured an
illegal Uzi rifle, claiming that Missourians could carry such a
"pistol" if the measure passed. Another outrageous claim was
that State Farm opposed Prop B because it would raise the costs of
insurance. That was a proven outright lie that went unchallenged in
the media. At least some TV stations pulled the Uzi ad when they were
informed that it was false.
Gunowners and prospective gunowners can join state Rep. Wayne Crump
(D-Potosi), who sponsored the concealed-firearms bill in the state
legislature last year, in mourning the loss of so great an
opportunity. "I don't think in the near future that it will be
resubmitted to the voters."
The New Gun Week
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