A new Missouri law makes it faster and easier than ever to get a gun. Backers say it just cuts through red tape. Gun control advocates say it’s not a huge change, but believe lawmakers should have spent taxpayer dollars making more important revisions.
“Let’s say there’s a person who has an issue where they’re in fear for their life and they need to get a gun fairly quickly,” says Michael Meyer, of the St. Louis Association of Firearms Training Instructors. “If they had to wait ten days, that may be too late.”
Now when you walk in a gun store, you can walk out with a gun, in minutes not days.
“It makes it fair as far as protection,” Meyer says. “You won’t be a victim.”
Meyer says the law change does not mean Missouri is going soft on gun control, but simply cutting through red tape, and a duplication of background checks.
My neighbor committed suicide on 8/28/07 (first day for gun purchase without waiting period) with a gun he purchased that day. If he had to wait several days, I bet he would be alive. His wife and kids would appreciate that.
Comment by sarah — August 31, 2007 @ 7:52 am
I feel sorry for you, his wife, and his kids. However, if he really wanted to kill himself, he would have found a different way than with a gun. The waiting period wouldn’t make a huge difference.
Comment by Chris — October 10, 2008 @ 10:17 am