By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A judge with the 22nd Circuit Judicial Court in St. Louis, Mo., has ruled a city ordinance mandating that people who leave guns in parked, unattended vehicles must store them in a locked, out-of-sight container violates the state preemption law.
St. Louis Magazine is reporting that Judge Joseph P. Whyte handed down the decision in a case filed last November which challenged the ordinance. A local resident, Michael Roth, filed the lawsuit, a month after Roth’s 9mm pistol was stolen from his vehicle while he was attending church at the Cathedral Basilica. When Roth reported the theft to police, he was cited for not having stored it in a locked container.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms recently discussed the problems inherent in having to leave firearms in automobiles. While the CCRKBA statement dealt more with so-called “gun-free zone” troubles, it does mention having to leave guns in cars while attending religious services.
“A legally-owned firearm is safest when it is in the possession of its owner,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb explained. “Armed private citizens should never be expected to leave their firearms just to have lunch, attend a meeting or public hearing, handle personal business in a government building, enter churches, synagogues or mosques, or merely to go shopping at a mall or market.”
Under the ordinance, victims of firearms thefts are still required to report the loss within 48 hours.
According to St. Louis Magazine, Roth’s attorney, Matt Vianello, agreed with the state statute leaving gun regulation in the hands of the state legislature. Such laws, which are in effect in a majority of states, provide uniformity in gun regulation.
The magazine noted the storage and reporting requirements “were designed to curb the trafficking of stolen guns.” Evidently, the ordinance has not deterred people from breaking into parked vehicles and stealing whatever is inside, especially firearms.
The magazine said a spokesman for the St. Louis Police Department still advises people against leaving guns in unattended vehicles. His advice to people who cannot bring their guns inside whatever business or other location should leave the gun at home.
“No law should ever be allowed to force law-abiding citizens to leave their means of self-defense locked in an automobile,” CCRKBA’s Gottlieb said. “If you want to prevent gun thefts from parking lots and garages, don’t make things easier for thieves. If you want to deter mass shootings in public places, make it possible for people to fight back. If you want to keep guns out of the wrong hands, then allow those guns to be in the right hands.”
