The Kansas City, Mo., city council voted Thursday to ban open carry of firearms.
Delivering the pitch that sealed the ban's passage, Mayor Sly James told the council that openly carrying exposed guns is intimidating, invites accidental shootings and killings out of rage, and is particularly undesirable because unlike concealed carry it requires no permit or training.
“We don't need that, we can do fine without it, and if people are serious about wanting to carry a weapon they are perfectly capable of getting a concealed carry permit,” James added.
The council vote was 9-0, but whether the ban is a lasting one depends on whether the Missouri Legislature overrides Gov. Nixon's veto of a bill that would take that power to ban open carry away from cities.
