Skip to content

Everytown, Kansas Moms Demand Action Release Poll That Shows 78 Percent Of Kansans Believe Concealed Handgun Carriers Should Be Required to Have a Permit

3.17.2015

Topeka, KS – Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Kansas Moms Demand Action today released a new poll showing the overwhelming majority of Kansans believe people should be required to have a permit in order to carry concealed handguns in public places.

The poll comes as the Kansas House of Representatives is debating S.B. 45, a bill passed by the Senate last month that would effectively dismantle Kansas’s concealed carry permitting system. If S.B. 45 becomes law, Kansas would become one of only five states to allow people to carry hidden, loaded guns in public places without any permit whatsoever.
Among the poll’s findings:


  • Seventy-eight percent of Kansans want those who carry a concealed weapon in public to be required to have a state-issued permit.
  • Ninety-eight percent of Kansas households in which someone has a concealed carry permit support the permit requirement for carrying concealed handguns.
  • Fifty-three percent of Kansans would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supports the proposal to dismantle the concealed carry permitting system, compared to just 18 percent of Kansans who would be more likely to support that candidate.

“The poll shows that Kansans believe it’s just common sense that anyone carrying a concealed gun around in public should have basic safety training and a permit,” said TerriLynn Barnett Miller, a volunteer with the Kansas Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “With rights come responsibilities, and that means passing a criminal background check, completing basic handgun safety training, and obtaining a concealed carry permit. That’s responsible gun ownership.”

“There is a reason that 98 percent of Kansas households in which someone has a concealed carry permit support that basic requirement,” said Michelle Reed, a volunteer with the Kansas Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Permit-holders know it’s a simple but effective safeguard to require those who carry guns on Kansas streets to complete basic handgun safety training and obtain a permit. That’s why Kansas is one of 46 states with that requirement. Let’s not join that lonely list of four states that have abandoned this important public safety measure.”