St. Louis, MO – In a peaceful demonstration on Saturday, gun owners took a walk through the city with their guns in plain sight.
The event was made possible by recent events that made the state a safer haven for gun rights. Amendment 5 to the Missouri constitution reinforces that the right to bear arms is an “unalienable right,” and SB 656 , which became law earlier this year, effectively negates any prohibition of openly carrying firearms in Missouri.
Jeffry Smith, who organized the event, called it an Open Carry/Firearms Educational Walk and stated that its purpose was “…to exercise those rights, it is to put them to the test, and it is to educate the public that sees this going on and asks questions of us.”
The St. Louis police chief reportedly disagreed with the event, while claiming to “understand everybody’s 2nd Amendment right, the ability to have a firearm.”
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay spoke to the press after the event, whining that, “What you saw on the streets of St. Louis today, was like a scene out of a bad western.” Standing amidst representatives of anti-gun groups, he reportedly called the peaceful gun owners “extremists.”
There was no violence or arrests involved with the walk.
I’m not a big fan of open carry, but the exercising of any civil right is important. Just like a muscle in your body, you must use it or lose it.
