ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is taking steps toward regulating open-carry weapons in the city while simultaneously adding protections to prevent stop-and-frisk situations.
Despite the unanimous vote, it's still legal to openly carry a gun in the City of St. Louis.
While that may soon change, even the bill's sponsor admits this isn't going to immediately stop the violence.
While videos of teens carrying long guns in the streets of downtown St. Louis continue to go viral, Alderman Joe Vollmer acknowledged that gun violence happens in every corner of the city.
“A teenager walked to a school with an automatic weapon and 600 rounds of ammunition,” said Vollmer. “He was completely legal until he actually fired a gun.”
The Central Visual and Performing Arts school shooting was just one of a long list of examples discussed by the Board of Alderman as they attempt to regulate open carry in St. Louis.
“This is not going to overnight address the violence in our communities, but it is a tool,” said Alderwoman Cara Spencer. “It is a path forward.”
The board unanimously voted to regulate open carry.
“This, in my opinion, is a bill to stop children from carrying guns in our city,” said Alderman Bret Narayan.
In a separate vote, the board also passed an ordinance requiring police to give hand out business cards with identifying information to everyone they stop and ask for consent to search without a warrant.
“My fear is that, especially being a person of color, when it comes to law enforcement those interactions aren’t always pretty to say the least,” said Alderman Rasheen Aldridge.
It’s still unclear exactly how these ordinances would be enforced.
“Speaking to the chief [of police], I think we’ll see something in the coming weeks,” said Spencer.
Alderwoman Spencer says the legislation itself sends a strong message.
“What we want to do is change behavior,” said Spencer. “That sense of unfortunate lawlessness when you see really heavy artillery walking down the street.”
These bills must pass one final vote before being sent to Mayor Tishaura Jones.
A spokesman for the Mayor’s office sent 5 On Your Side this statement on the proposed legislation:
“We are reviewing this legislation as well as any safety or operational concerns it could pose to the public and officers. We continue to explore every avenue to implement effective commonsense gun safety laws in St. Louis despite the state’s strict preemption laws”