On his blog Wednesday, Mayor Slay wrote:
"The real guns of August in the St. Louis region are the too easily available ones that flood the streets, giving every late summer disagreement, domestic dispute, and police stop the potential to lead to violence and tragedy...While I do wish that people who own guns took more care to keep them secure and had better grasps of gun safety, my dismay is over the ease with which criminals can acquire guns. It just seems to defy common sense to argue that the most effective remedy against gun violence is more guns."
http://www.mayorslay.com/desk/display.asp?deskID=1043
Mayor Slay got blasted for this in the comments of Jake Wagman's Political Fix post:
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2008/08/slay-calls-for-tighter-gun-control-and-braces-for-blowback/
One poster wrote:
"Slay suggests what he calls “reasonable” regulations — such as being able to tie shell casings to the gun that fired them — to help police reign in crooks.”
Microstamping, the dems new way to regulate guns. Since everyone knows criminal with illegal guns wouldnt use illegal ammunition.
I find it rather amusing that large cities with the biggest crime problems have the strictest gun control laws and democrats as mayors, yet they cant see the connection….."
Another wrote:
“Microstamping” of cartridge cases must be done by the gun itself. That means you’d have to get the gun manufacturers onboard which would require a law that would restrict sale of guns without that technology. There is no way all guns already in the system can be retrofitted with this technology. Mayor Slay is just parroting liberal crap he heard somewhere along the line, or more likely, it was written by one of his minions. "
A third wrote:
"First thing: What is it about cities that make guns behave so badly?
Mayor Slay says that guns are “easily available.” They are if you don’t acquire them through legal means, and until the state repealed the obtuse “permit to purchase” last year, it was even harder. They’re “easily available” because guns are stolen in residential burglaries and from U.S. Armed Forces armories, then they make it to a black market."
It is hard to argue with Mayor Slay that criminals, kids, the irresponsible and the hot-tempered in St. Louis should not have easy access to guns. But from the Post blog comments, it is pretty clear that St. Louis citizens want Mayor Slay to be more specific in his suggestions for new gun laws. Rights and freedoms are too easily lost to well-intentioned laws.
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