Tishaura Jones, the Democratic mayor of St. Louis, is facing criticism for her apparent shift in position on gun control between her public and private text conversations. In order to get Mayor Jones’s private text messages, local St. Louis news station KSDK and the St. Louis Business Journal filed a Sunshine Law request.
Jones, in the texts that have been made public, argues that strict gun regulations in cities like Chicago don’t “deter gun violence.” This runs opposite to the narrative that her staff has been pushing throughout her time as mayor, including her comments following a mass shooting in St. Louis in June in which one teenager was killed and nine were injured. When asked about the shooting, Mayor Jones pointed the finger at the state’s “lax gun laws.”
In addition, Mayor Jones condemned an editorial written by Republican state Senator Cindy O’Laughlin in March. In it, O’Laughlin said that changing the circumstances that drive young people to get swept up in a life of crime might be achieved by investments in education, workforce training, and economic opportunities.
Mayor Jones’s office spokesperson Nick Desideri elaborated on her stance, saying that stronger gun control legislation are necessary, but that more has to be done to engage the community in the effort to reduce crime and deter gun violence.
After receiving a Sunshine Law request, Mayor Jones disclosed a 135-page PDF of her text texts, which inadvertently included numerous communications that were not part of the public records request. In a statement issued in response, the mayor called it a “honest mistake.” For several hours, the city withheld the requested Sunshine Law records before replacing them with more heavily redacted copies.
According to the statement issued by her office, Mayor Jones isn’t “one to hide [her] feelings” and “understands the impact” of her remarks. She added that she would contact those involved in an effort to facilitate positive change.
