Douglass High School student Alonzo Stevens was arrested Jan. 25 when he was found with a .45-caliber handgun at school. Stevens later admitted he was involved in two weekend shootings the Columbia Police Department had previously investigated.
Stevens also admitted his gun was “dirty,” or stolen.
According to the Uniform Crime Report, about $3.3 million worth of firearms across the state of Missouri were stolen in 2010. Of this number, only $338,187 worth of the stolen goods were recovered.
In Columbia alone, $33,126 of firearms were stolen and $10,367 worth of these firearms were recovered.
MU Police Department Capt. Scott Richardson said the campus sees three to five weapons offenses each year, and the vast majority of these charges are for weapon possession. This does not necessarily mean firearms were involved in the incident, he said.
“Typically, these either happen in a residence hall or at a traffic stop, after a search of some kind,” Richardson said.
If MUPD does receive a tip regarding a weapon’s presence on campus, Richardson said it responds in one of two ways.
“It depends on the type of tip it is,” Richardson said. “If it’s an ongoing threat, then we would obviously respond immediately with the emergency procedures we have in place. If it’s a tip that’s just like, ‘Hey, I saw this guy with a gun in his room,’ then we would respond to that location and talk to the person and follow up on the tip that was brought to us.”
Target Masters Operations Manager Barry McKenzie’s company is a shooting range that also sells guns.
He said the only way to purchase a gun legally in Missouri is to have a valid driver’s license or an ID with a current address. Federal law requires every person looking to purchase a firearm to fill out Form 4473, which determines if a possible customer is eligible to purchase a firearm.
“We have the right to turn anyone down — we sure do,” McKenzie said. “If we don’t think they’re responsible by what we see or what we know.”
McKenzie said a denial could result from a customer being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or a negative report from the FBI. For every potential purchase, the FBI conducts a background search of the potential customer, determining whether the purchase is approved, delayed or disapproved.
Illegally obtained firearms are often purchased at gun shows, McKenzie said. Target Masters does not participate in these shows.
“We don’t deal with any kind of gun that could have been bought illegally,” McKenzie said. “A lot of times these guns are bought, what we hear is that they are bought at a gun show.”
Nevertheless, McKenzie acknowledged the presence of illegal firearms in the area and how they are often associated with crimes.
“I’m sure it happens, and that’s why you have a lot of people out there that don’t want people to have guns,” McKenzie said. “Basically, if those folks are not allowed to have their Second Amendment right, then the only people with guns would be criminals. They’ll be able to get them one way or another, whether they buy them, get them from someone else or steal them.”