KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Share your story idea with Megan.
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You might have noticed signs popping up in businesses near E. 31st Street and Prospect Avenue: "No Guns Allowed."
The signs are a product of an initiative launched last year, with the aim to hold criminals accountable, deter gun violence and increase the type of charge.
KSHB 41's Megan Abundis is following up to see if they're working in the Linwood Shopping Center.
Near 31st and Prospect is where Bahaa Jbara runs Beauty Icon, his business of five years. He stocks every aisle with beauty supplies, and with each purchase, customers may or may not be aware of the extra steps he's taken to ensure their safety.
"I want the customer to be protected. I want the kids to be protected, the girls to feel safe coming in here," Jbara said.
The "No Guns" signs are part of a partnership with the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, coupled with a trespassing notice.
"That sign is big and nice, and it catches their attention right away. It's right in their face, they can't avoid it," Jbara explained.
Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Melesa Johnson is a strong advocate for the initiative, which was started by her predecessor, Jean Peters Baker.
"We will not stop trying new things. I don't care if people say it's just a piece of paper," she said.
Johnson believes the signs are effective deterrents.
"By having the sign in front of your business and a person trespasses, boom, that is a Class B misdemeanor that my office can take up," Johnson said. "But even more importantly, if a person trespasses on your premises and then steals something, that legally makes that a burglary, which is a felony that carries a different and more strict range of punishment which my office can handle as well.”
So instead of punting an ordinance violation to the city, Johnson said it would kick it up the chain to the county. Jbarra has seen it work.
“Well, legally, thereafter trespasses somebody the moment they enter into your business with the firearm,” Johnson said. “It’s not just a piece of paper, it’s an element to the defense that we have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Johnson said the store owner has to either communicate to the person in question that they can’t be on the premises or post the fact that they can’t be on the premises, which is where the sign comes in.
“By the time the police got here, the individual left already, but having the sign is amazing,” Jbarra said.
He’s used to catching people stealing himself.
“We put them right on social media,” he said.
But now, he says he feels backed up.
“The sign coming from a legal authority says, 'This is a law. You can be prosecuted if you don’t follow the law,”' he said.
Others feel similarly.
“This sign makes people feel secure as far coming inside here, be safe to shop, going to their car, just feel protected,” area resident and shopper Keysha Bostic said.
KSHB 41 News previously talked to Bostic months ago, who lives in the area and knows the crime issues.
“Since the last time we interviewed, it has been cleaned up a whole lot,” she said.
Her answer now is much different than last time.
“A lot of people hanging out, drinking, drugging, having sex, going to sleep,” she said in September.
But some admit the sign presents a choice.
“I think it’s very serious. I think it’s a hard decision to come into a place in this area without a gun,” said Chassidy Carddock, who works in the area.
At the end of the day, the prosecutor wants to stock small businesses with protection efforts.
“We are able to get some of these prolific nuisance individuals off the streets, out of our community so our businesses can thrive,” Johnson said. “Trying new and creative ways to try to plug in the resource holes that we have continuously heard about.”
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