HPmatt, thanks for posting this news! I wasn't following this.
For once the media did a good job of pressing some questions to a city official.
The mayor had a hard time connecting the two incidents of mob violence. I think we all can connect it easily although that makes some people at the forums uneasy, just like the mayor. Reality isn't always politically correct; I don't like it either, I wish it were not, but it's there. Rest assured there is a clear connection. It's getting way out of hand and denying public places to more responsible citizens. But no one in government or media will touch it because of the group doing the mobbing. These people just "go wild" everywhere they go.
While avoiding that connection, the mayor tried to pin the blame on people with guns instead. Since the news report made him look like the big idiot, his remarks won't have as much effect as desired. Still, don't be surprised if the city's solution turns out to be some extra gun policy at the zoo, rather than looking at the mobs doing this, and usually doing it without guns. It could feed anti-gun political efforts, even though the culprits here have nothing to do with normal gun owners. Luckily there are some good people in Jeff City.
But long term that's why we need to make efforts to influence people beyond our own community, and get our voices heard in media. Otherwise you will see responsible gun owning citizens as a whole blamed for completely unrelated issues such as this mob violence, where one or two young thugs (out of hundreds involved) showed up with a piece. The local politicians will say anything at all, and they will lie continually, to shift the blame away from the true problems. Gun owners are their favorite scapegoat.
If we get statewide legal OC with permit via SB 613, that will let the public see more responsible people carrying guns, and realize that good gun owners are walking among them all the time. (Right now CC gun owners are there, but they are invisible to the public.) That, along with more of our voices in media and social media, would help to defeat the lies and protect our second amendment rights going forward.
