St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, center, speaks during a news conference at the Wohl Recreation Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 18, 2023. David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
A number of private text messages made public under an open records request appear to reveal St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones’ conflicting storyline regarding stricter gun control measures in cities such as Chicago.
Several of Ms. Jones’ personal texts appears to counter pro-gun control comments she made on multiple occasions, including in a statement last month, in which she urged Congress to expand background checks on individuals who are seeking to purchase firearms, regulate assault rifles, and pass a federal red flag law.
Mark Maxwell, a reporter for KSDK News, posted a series of the Democrat mayor’s text messages on Twitter.
In one of the texts, Ms. Jones texted her father, Virvus Jones, on March 21, which noted: “Chicago has strict gun laws as well but that doesn’t deter gun violence.”
“It’s about investing in the people,” she wrote to her father in another text.
In a statement obtained by KSDK News, a spokesman for the mayor’s office has since sought to clarify Ms. Jones’ position on gun control laws.
“Gun laws are just one part of the solution,” Ms. Jones’ spokesman Nick Desideri said. “There’s a difference between deterring behavior and making it harder to get firearms and weaponry; for example, there’s no doubt that gun laws in the blue region around Newark help reduce violence as opposed to here.”
In another statement from Ms. Jones shared in a July 8 Twitter post by Mr. Desideri, the mayor said the texts were made public due to an “honest mistake.”
“I’ve never been one to hide my feelings. Through an honest mistake, text messages between my family and close friends were released to the public. Sometimes my words can be terse, and my text messages speak for themselves. I understand the impact of some of my comments and will contact the relevant parties to ensure productive dialogue moving forward,” she stated.
The texts were made public following requests for communication in connection to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner stepping down in Missouri’s second-largest city. The embattled George Soros-backed prosecutor resigned in May after being accused of failing to perform her duties and amid calls for her ouster by Republican leaders.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner appears at her disciplinary hearing in St. Louis, Mo., on April 11, 2022. T.L. Witt/Pool via Missouri Lawyers Media/AP Photo
The texts were released in a PDF document prior to being removed a couple of days after it was published, according to KSDK News. The document was later replaced with a shorter and redacted version.
Conflicting Views
Last month, Ms. Jones blamed “lax gun laws” in the city for a shooting in an office building in downtown St. Louis that killed 17-year-old Makao Moore and wounded nearly a dozen others, contradicting the leaked texts that appear to indicate the mayor believes gun violence is more a societal problem, rather than a gun problem.
“Our state’s lax gun laws make our challenge even more difficult,” Ms. Jones said following the June 18 shooting, Fox News reported. “The legislature’s lack of action on gun safety laws encourages the proliferation of guns on our streets and puts our responding officers directly in harm’s way.”
Ms. Jones also declared “Gun Violence Awareness Day” in St. Louis in a June 3 statement, days after President Joe Biden delivered a speech encouraging a new “assault weapons” ban and a ban on “high-capacity” magazines, proposals some say would infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
“The Senate must protect our families from gun violence by expanding background checks to all gun sales, regulating assault weapons, and passing a federal red flag law,” Ms. Jones said.
Since the founding of the United States, guns have been an ingrained part of American society and culture. Up to 45 percent of American households are in possession of one or more firearms, according to data released by the Statista Research Department.
As violent crime incidents have spiked across the country, Republicans have pointed to the steady stream of shootings in Democratic-controlled cities such as Chicago, which has among the most restrictive gun laws in the United States.
The homicide rate in St. Louis, meanwhile, is also extremely high. The city recorded 200 homicides last year, 201 in 2021, and 263 in 2020, according to data (pdf) released by the St. Louis Police Department. The city has one of the highest murder rates in the nation, alongside cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, and New Orleans.
