On a mild morning in mid-March, a steady stream of cars carrying teachers, health care workers and grandparents rolled through the parking lot of Ellis Davis Field House in southern Dallas County.
Lisa Wheeler, a Parkland Health & Hospital System nurse, was at the other end of the parking lot, dressed in her uniform blue scrubs, face mask and shield. She met each person who rolled down a window or opened a car door with a fresh sense of optimism.
Her smile concealed, Wheeler tried to express with her eyes how happy she was to be there.
“I feel like there is hope now,” Wheeler said.
Schnelting agrees. If they are already carrying, we should level the playing field and let law-abiding citizens do the same, he said.
But not everyone is on board.
MetroLink s General Manager Kevin Scott released a statement saying: Concealed carry is not a reasonable assumption in a transit environment, just like it isn t reasonable at stadiums or in any massive crowd situation. The Board of Commissioners at Bi-State Development does not support legislation in Missouri or in Illinois that would allow Metro Transit passengers to carry weapons of any kind, open or concealed, even with a conceal carry permit, on Metro vehicles or on Metro property. As a normal course of business, we are discussing these policy issues with our lawmakers, and state senators in the St. Louis area are concerned about the negative impacts of this proposed legislation.”