Governor comments divide public beliefs on gun reform

By Jazmine Knight

Governor Mike Parson is in the limelight once again.

He recently appeared on a Kansas City radio show to speak on the parade shooting. He called the shooters thugs and criminals without mentioning anything about gun reform. His commentary left the public divided and upset. Some believe that Parson is pushing a racist agenda and is avoiding the gun conversation. Others like Pawn Plus owner, Ted Warner, say “there’s not much more that I can see that they can do.”

Aniyah Fisher, senior at Northwest Missouri State University, attended the Chief’s parade. She said it was beautiful outside.

“Everything was a good time,” she said. 

 However, that was quickly interrupted. Fisher and her friend were walking back to their car as the teens in front of them began arguing. 

“I’m telling my friend, scoot over, get to the side. That boy turned back around. He said, all right, all right, what’s up then, what’s up then, pulls out his gun. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.  He probably shot a good three shots.” 

Everyone scattered, alerting others to avoid the area. Fisher even notified police who informed her that it was being taken care of by other officers. 

Now, Fisher doesn’t even feel traumatized. Instead, she kind of normalized it. 

““It wasn’t traumatic seeing it because I think as a society, we’ve gotten used to shootings and killings, which is sad to say and honestly, I wasn’t even surprised that it was a kid doing it”

Following this incident, many are calling for stricter gun laws once again. Fisher says there should be a more secure way to access them. 

“Now kids have more access to guns and they just have them, whether that just be by social media or just because they trying to act or look a certain type of way,” she said. 

“It was more of a disappointment because like, we can’t have a good time without somebody getting hurt.”

She also mentioned the proposal to give teachers guns in school. 

“We just had the Nevada shooting that happened at their college by a teacher, by a professor, and now want to give teachers access to guns, I think is honestly ridiculous.”

Her message to lawmakers is “if you have laws like that bet but at the same time you are preaching and saying why these shootings are happening, if you are in a position to change that, you should be doing it.”

On the other side, Warner believes stricter laws wouldn’t be effective.

“To me, stopping the guns wouldn’t do anything. It would just still happen,” Warner said. 

Warner described the process to legally purchase a gun. Customer information is sent to the FBI for a final decision which can take anywhere from a few minutes to a week. But the shop has full discretion in telling someone no if they show signs of a concerning mental illness. 

“We made that judgment call and the government stands behind us.”

Warner says the problem behind mass shootings is people’s intentions.

“The problem is in people’s hearts and their hearts are evil or angry and they take it out on the innocent.”

He believes even if you take guns away you would still have the same issues. 

“If you take the guns away from everybody, then only the evil people, the crooks, the felons, and they will buy a gun,” Warner said.

“You can buy a gun in this town on the street illegally any day of the week if you have the money.”