The reality is a far different story.
St. Louis is a prime example of a misguided city blindly attacking its crime issues in an illogical and counterproductive manner. The metropolis is obsessed with creating areas where no weapons are allowed and believes that by doing so, it is protecting its citizens from harm.
But a recent incident proved the fallacy of this approach.
A transgender woman was riding a MetroBus in St. Louis’ Dutchtown neighborhood in the middle of the afternoon when she was approached by the suspect. The unidentified male took a nearby seat and began talking to the victim.
A short time later, the suspect rose and began punching and kicking the victim. Then he produced a handgun and pointed it at the rider, Sydney Masie. The victim kicked back at her attacker and screamed, “Somebody help me!”
Masie said her attacker simply responded, “Nobody’s going to help you here!”
The suspect fled the scene and is currently being sought by the FBI on suspicion of committing a hate crime. The bureau is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Bistate Development runs St. Louis’ transit system. General manager Kevin Scott all but admitted to the Riverfront Times that the so-called “gun-free” zone runs on the honor system with no other way to back it up. And while this discourages the law-abiding public from being armed, the criminal element obviously disregards the rule entirely.
Scott told the outlet that it is impossible to scan all riders. There are personnel who operate at various locations along the routes, but as the recent incident proved, they are hardly able to know if passengers are armed.
In other words, the criminals still have their guns. It’s only those who obey the law, who could step in and stop a hate crime, who are disarmed.
