Missouri Defensive Gun Uses Highlight the Need to Repeal ‘Gun-Free Zone’

As Missouri lawmakers debate several gun-related bills, including a repeal of the state’s prohibition on lawful carry on public transportation, a pair of defensive gun uses are highlighting the importance of being able to fight back against violent individuals. 

The first incident took place on Sunday at a store in Kansas City, where authorities say a man attacked the store manager with a knife. When police arrived on scene, they found Marcus Webb with two gunshot wounds, and a cooperative store manager who said he had no choice but to defend himself.

The store manager told police he acted in self-defense after Webb allegedly attacked him with a knife.

Security footage showed Webb jumping over the counter with a knife, according to charging documents.

A witness at the scene, who was in the store with a child, said the manager’s actions may have prevented harm to others.

Earlier in the day, Webb had been asked to leave the store following an altercation, court documents state. 

Police recovered a knife, a handgun, and shell casings from the scene.

Webb, who has a prior weapons conviction, is charged with armed criminal action and assault.

The following day, police in the St. Louis suburb of Florissant, Missouri were called out to a Schnuck’s grocery store on a report of a shooting. After an investigation, authorities ended up arresting the man who was shot. Derrick Johnson is now facing charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action after he allegedly targeted another man with a gun, only to learn that his intended victim was far from helpless.

According to court documents, surveillance video showed that Johnson saw the man and pulled out a loaded Hi-Point 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber. Johnson then began following him.

The man being chased by Johnson fled into a nearby aisle before grabbing his own gun and shooting Johnson in the stomach. 

The man who shot Johnson left the scene. He was later found and taken into police custody.

Police did not say if they were considering applying for charges against him.

We don’t have a lot of details about this particular defensive gun use, but so long as the armed citizen could legally possess his firearm I’d say he’s in the clear. If surveillance video shows that Johnson was the initial aggressor and was essentially stalking his victim through the grocery store, the armed citizen had every reason to believe that his life was in danger and would have been justified in using deadly force to protect himself. 

Both of these DGUs serve as a reminder that violent crime can happen anywhere, and we should be able to protect ourselves and others if need be. That’s a particularly important lesson given that the Republican majority has the opportunity this session to scrap one of the state’s most invasive “gun-free zones”; public transportation. 

Sen. Adam Schnelting is sponsoring a bill that would allow passengers with a valid concealed carry permit to bring their weapon on vehicles and property owned or operated by a public transportation system.

The measure, mainly aimed at Bi-State Development’s MetroLink and MetroBus operations in the St. Louis area, was pushed unsuccessfully by Schnelting during his six years in the House.

Schnelting, a Republican elected to the Senate in November, said his bill is critical to keeping crime on public transit in check.

“We’ve been doing it their way for so long, and yet we still have a problem with crime, so it’s past time for us to do something about it,” he said.

Schnelting’s proposal has made headway with members of the state’s Republican supermajority but remains controversial. Last year, more than 300 people testified for or against the bill across several lengthy hearings.

This shouldn’t be a controversial proposal at all. By denying folks the ability to lawfully carry on public transportation, the state is preventing them from also being able to defend themselves throughout the course of their day. We know that crime can happen anywhere, even in a grocery store aisle, so why should the state of Missouri essentially disarm those citizens who are reliant on public transit to get around? 

Here’s hoping that these recent defensive gun uses prompt lawmakers to start moving on Schnelting’s bill. This particular “gun-free zone” really needs to go away, and delaying its demise only harms lawful gun owners, not the violent criminals who are willing to prey on them.