The news didn’t make a big splash nationally. But when the editorial board of the New York Times found out that Missouri has joined with other states that allow concealed carry without permit, they went into their default mode. Which is to say, they went into an anti-gun hissy fit.

Calling Missouri the “Shoot Me State,” they decreed Missouri’s decision “an alarming victory for the gun lobby,” and listed a litany of horrors:

It strips local law enforcement of its current authority to deny firearms to those guilty of domestic violence and to other high-risk individuals. And it establishes a dangerous “stand your ground” standard that will allow gun owners to shoot and claim self-defense based on their own sense of feeling threatened.

Everyone, panic!

Meanwhile, just west in my state of Kansas, we have had constitutional carry since 2015. And no, not even Dodge City, KS (yes, it does exist!) resembles the shoot ’em up Dodge City of Western lore.

But, in fact, there’s one less perpetrator walking the streets of my state due to the quick actions of a Kansan packing heat.

Last Sunday, a woman in Shawnee, KS — a suburb of Kansas City — had finished her shopping at a Walmart and was placing her infant in her car when two men struck her on the head. One man saw the event and got out of his car to assist the woman, and was shot and wounded. A second man also saw what happened, pulled his gun, and shot one of the assailants. Dead.

I live a few miles from that store, and while I’ve never shopped there, I can assure you that it’s in a quiet suburban area. It’s no Chicago. Not by any stretch.

And how do the good citizens and police of Kansas feel about the Good Samaritan and his evil weapon? Let’s watch this video.

So from the state of Kansas I give a hat tip to my Missouri neighbors, whose legislators believed in their good sense rather than the pearl-clutchers of the NYT, who stated that “gun safety cannot be left to state lawmakers.” I guess in Times world it should be left to gun hating elitists.