Opinion: St. Louis alderman’s idea to fight crime: guns for all

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A North St. Louis alderman’s solution to rising urban crime and gun deaths is to arm everybody.

Charles Quincy Troupe, a frequent critic of his city’s police force, says more ‘Show Me State’ residents should buy guns and get training, and that if criminals knew they’re more likely to meet resistance, they might think twice about their illegal activities.

Troupe says everybody packing heat isn’t the only answer to rising crime. He wants more city spending on job training and youth activities too. (See video below.)

But a police association spokesman expresses skepticism about the alderman and his idea and what officers might confront on patrol. And Mayor Francis Slay suggests Troupe could do more by urging constituents to cooperate with police.

Here’s a thought:

Maybe we should also apply this idea to commercial airliners. Instead of those ridiculously slow lines at airport security checkpoints prohibiting passengers from carrying too much toothpaste and firearms onto the planes, hand everyone a piece as they board. And a sack of ammo.

Or BYOG. Smith & Wesson has a special holiday handgun sale on right now.

Anyone hangs around the cockpit door too long, the first eight rows could open up. Same for rows 18-24 keeping an eye on the rear galley.

Guns for every passenger could also shorten the wait for toilets.

Oh, sure, there might be some violent disagreements between even- and odd-numbered rows if, say, someone put their seatback down too far too quickly.

But that’s a relatively small price to pay to help spread Alderman Troupe’s idea of urban safety into the nation’s skies.

And if everyone knew that everyone had a loaded pistol handy, maybe it wouldn’t take quite so long to get those bags out of the overhead bins and hustle off the plane. No one hustles right now.

--Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credits: Smith & Wesson