Jackson County Prosecutor has dropped charges against a man who was arrested and charged with the murder of a woman and her unborn child. The reason? The Prosecutor was uncertain if they could prove their case. This is the same thing that the Jackson County Prosecutor has stated about numerous other serious cases involving acts of violence. And with the Jackson County Prosecutor unwilling to do her job, why should criminals be concerned about the ordinance and posting regarding firearms at the Independence Center.
In response to several incidents involving firearm at the Independence Center, the City of Independence enacted an ordinance prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons or firearms on the property and inside the building of the Independence Center. Has this stopped the problem? No, a woman and her unborn child were murdered inside the front doors of the Independence after this was all enacted. A man stood in the food court and fired fake handgun into the ceiling. And I am certain that on any given day, there are those who totally disregard the ordinance and posting and carry concealed weapons into the mall, people who are either carrying illegal weapons, or are illegally carrying weapons. Criminals are not going to give a second thought to the prohibition of weapons inside the Mall. In their minds, this gives them an advantage over the law-abiding citizens who have not written this dying mall completely.
Give me another reason not to shop at the Mall. The mall is dying, it’s been dying for years. Between the shootings, there was the problem with gangs of youth randomly attacking people inside the mall, spawning a curfew prohibiting youth from gathering at the mall after a certain time. The mall was going the direction of its dead predecessors, the Banister Mall, Metro North, and Indian Springs who fell into the hands of gangs and criminals, driving away paying customers who no longer felt safe. And why do I need to risk going to the mall? Anything that I can buy at the mall I can buy someplace else, or even have delivered to my front door. There is no reason to risk the threat of violence to shop at the Independence Center.
And putting six Police officers in a substation inside the Mall is not going to fix the problem. Unless you’re going to put up metal detectors and check everyone entering the Mall, weapons are going to get inside, and Police will not be able to respond before people are already wounded or dead. So, why take away my ability to defend myself? Why punish law-abiding citizens for the actions of Criminals, and then do little to truly protect your customers from these criminals? And if you cannot successfully protect people inside the Mall, how the hell are you going to protect them in the parking lot. We’re approaching the Christmas shopping season, and if there is any business at the mall, those people will find themselves preyed upon by criminals who know they have the advantage.
I won’t be one of them.
