When you walk into the Missouri State Capitol, the historic architecture and beautiful murals immediately draw the eye, but many visitors also find their attention drawn to something that isn't there.
The capitol does not have any metal detectors. People and their belongings are not scanned when they come inside, and some Missouri lawmakers are concerned for the well-being of both legislators and visitors.
In 2015, mass shootings — incidents in which at least four people were wounded by a single gunman — outpaced actual calendar days in the United States, and a PBS report from February indicates that 2016 began in a similar manner.
In late March, a man pulled a gun in the U.S. Capitol Building as he was walking through the scanner.
Missouri State Representative Don Phillips said Missouri Capitol Police are doing a great job, but he believes metal detectors in the state capitol would be beneficial as a deterrent to stop would-be intruders.
"From my former occupation as a Missouri State Trooper, I am always concerned about security anywhere," said Representative Phillips. "But in a building where you can walk in and there's no scanning, no limitations whatsoever, that ought to be a concern to everyone because the potential is there for somebody to abuse that privilege."
Because people are worried about their safety, metal detectors have become a daily part of life. People and their belongings are scanned in airports, government buildings, schools and even at sporting events. Some visitors at the Missouri State Capitol are surprised that they don't have to clear a scanner to get in the capitol building.
"At the [Missouri] Supreme Court building we had to go through the metal detector, no cell phones at all in the building, and here, you just walk in," said Angela Meredith, a parent who was visiting the capitol with her son on his field trip with students from Willard Elementary School.
But Willard Elementary School principal Melinda Miller was not concerned about the absence of metal detectors at the capitol.
"The first people I always see are law enforcement officers, so I've never really felt unsafe or anything," said Miller.
I checked to see if other state capitols in the Midwest have metal detectors. Kansas, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Oklahoma all have scanners the public must clear before entering the state capitols in those states, but Nebraska does not.
For a few months following the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, metal detectors were installed at the six entrances to the Missouri State Capitol, but they were removed after a few weeks.
Missouri State Representative Daron McGee speculates that the cost of adding scanners and staffers to run security checkpoints at all six entrances to the building is likely the reason metal detectors are not being added.
"I just think at some point there should be a one-point entry where people can go in and get checked for weapons and things like that in the capitol," said Representative McGee.
Wearing a hidden camera, I entered the Missouri State Capitol and made it all the way into the public reception area of Governor Nixon's office. I did not see any unformed police and my bags were never checked. The door leading to Nixon's executive office was off limits. Governor Nixon was not in the capitol that day. When he is there, Missouri State Troopers are with him to provide security.
State Representative Galen Higdon, Chairman of the House Security Committee, said that even though I did not see any uniformed security officers, I was being watched as I made my way to Gov. Nixon's office.
"The ladies and gentlemen that protect us have a very good grasp on where they need to be and what time they need to be there and to do what is necessary to insure to minimize any bad actors that might come in," said Representative Higdon.
We wanted to know if Gov. Nixon believes the Missouri State Capitol is safe even though the public and their belongings are not screened as they enter the building. The governor responded through his press secretary, Scott Holste, with the following statement:
"In addition to containing the offices of five statewide elected officials and almost 200 legislators, the Missouri State Capitol is a building of considerable historic, architectural and artistic significance that is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. The safety of those who work at or visit the Capitol must continue to be complemented by the need for accessibility. As part of the extensive renovation work currently being done on the Capitol, the issue of security is being taken into consideration."
Representative Higdon's Security Committee headed a task force that studied capitol security last summer.
Because of sensitive security issues, the task force recommendations are not being released to the public. But Representative Higdon introduced House Bill 1576 and 1577.
The measures create a new commission that would be charged with security of the capitol building. Both would ideally improve communications between legislators and people providing security to expedite security changes when necessary. Both measures passed the House and are stalled in the Missouri Senate.
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Cynthia Newsome can be reached at Cynthia.Newsome@kshb.com.
