Topeka, KS – The Kansas Senate will hold a hearing today on S.B. 45, a bill that would effectively dismantle Kansas’s concealed carry licensing 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 license whatsoever.
Among S.B. 45’s most dangerous provisions, the bill would significantly lower the bar for who is allowed under Kansas law to carry a loaded, concealed gun in public – including in K-12 schools, in parks, and on city streets. The bill would change Kansas law to allow some convicted felons, domestic abusers, and people who have had no firearms safety training to carry hidden, loaded guns in public. Further, S.B. 45 would block law enforcement who stop an armed suspect from being able to tell whether he is a dangerous felon or an ordinary citizen – putting officers’ lives at risk and endangering all Kansans.
In advance of today’s hearing, the Kansas Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America released the following statement:
“As Kansans and parents, we are terribly concerned about dismantling Kansas’s concealed carry licensing system and we ask our lawmakers to stand up against S.B. 45,” said TerriLynn Barnett Miller, a volunteer with the Kansas Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Forty six states, including ours, have a licensing system in place because it’s just common sense that felons, domestic abusers, and people who haven’t been adequately trained shouldn’t be able to carry loaded guns around our children. Getting rid of this important safeguard would be a dangerous step in the wrong direction.”
