BOTH SIDES DISCUSS PROP B's FEATURES; CONCEALED-GUNS VOTE SET APRIL 6

Missouri voters have just over a month to decide whether a law allowing concealed weapons would escalate fist fights to gun fights or would give law-abiding citizens a way to protect themselves.

Opponents and proponents of Proposition B, the concealed-weapons referendum, voiced their opinions in Cape Girardeau Thursday.

Voters will decide April 6.

At a news conference in the U.S. attorney's office, opponents took aim at the proposal, saying it was riddled with loopholes. They called it the least restrictive in the nation.

An hour later, proponents said just the opposite.

Attending the press conference at the U.S. attorney's office were Edward Dowd, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri; Larry Ferrell, assistant U.S. attorney; Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney; Rick Hetzel, Cape Girardeau chief of police; and Bill Ferrell, Scott County sheriff.

Dowd made a similar stump against concealed weapons in St. Louis Feb. 18.

"Proposition B is riddled with loopholes that allow dangerous and violent people to carry concealed guns, including many assault weapons," said Dowd. "It would permit known gang members to carry concealed weapons into banks, stadiums, restaurants and your businesses."

"I'm concerned we'll see misdemeanor assaults escalate to gun fights," Swingle said. "I've prosecuted dozens of cases where traffic accidents have turned into fist fights. If everyone were carrying concealed weapons these fist fights could turn into shoot-outs."

Larry Ferrell said, "Prop B would let the wrong people carry the wrong weapons in the wrong places."

He said that people who have been convicted of misdemeanor crimes like stalking, child molestation, assault or impersonating a law enforcement official could carry concealed weapons.

"This proposal is ill-advised and puts law-abiding citizens at risk," Larry Ferrell said.

Dowd showed examples of weapons which could be carried concealed including semi-automatic pistols and assault weapons.

About 20 people crowded into the lobby just outside the press conference. As Dowd left for a meeting with the Kiwanis Club, he was stopped by proponents of the measure who questioned statistics and expressed their support of Proposition B.

At another meeting Thursday morning, spokesmen for Missourians Against Crime, an organization supporting the proposal, said criminals and gang members already carry concealed weapons.

Ben Lewis, former associate circuit judge in Cape Girardeau County, said three groups of people currently carry concealed weapons: police officers, criminals, and those who carry guns illegally for protection.

"We are talking about a fourth class of people: those who are law abiding, and as qualified with a weapon as a deputy sheriff in a third-class county who have been through training and background checks," said Lewis.

Keith M. Carr, chief of police for Chaffee, said Proposition B is among the most restrictive of any similar laws in the nation. "Under this law we would have access to juvenile records," he said. "That is unheard of in any other law."

Carr questioned whether any gang member or criminal was likely to spend money for license fees, complete 12 hours of training and fill out the permit application to receive a license to carry a concealed weapon.

"I don't think so," he said. "These people are already carrying concealed weapons."

Missouri Sen. Peter Kinder, a longtime sponsor of concealed-weapons legislation in Missouri, said, "Proposition B was carefully designed to give honest, hardworking Missourians the right to protect themselves.

"Proposition B would allow only law-abiding Missourians to obtain a permit and require those people to undergo stringent statewide and FBI background checks," Kinder said.