Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is gratified to learn that Dave Evans, the legislative assistant to Speaker Tim Jones who recently left a ready-to-fire 9mm pistol loaded with hollow point bullets unattended in a public bathroom at the Missouri state Capitol, has resigned. Missouri members of Moms Demand Action were preparing to deliver a petition of nearly 2,000 signatures to officials in Jefferson City asking for Evans to be fired.
Evans’ resignation is a clear admission that “misplacing” his loaded weapon was a reckless act of endangerment that cannot and will not be tolerated. Evans’ gun could have been found and fired by a child or any visitor to the building. More than 470,000 people visited the state Capitol last year; 30,000 of those visitors were school children on guided tours. Firearms have no place inside our state Capitol building except in the hands of trained security personnel.
The Missouri law that allows legislators and their assistants to carry weapons at the state Capitol must be changed. The last thing that we should do is wait for a child to be injured or killed before we change this law. As Missouri mothers, we are calling on members of the Missouri legislature to introduce and pass a bill outlawing guns inside the state Capitol.
