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Kentucky Moms Demand Action, Everytown Respond To Senate Vote Advancing Dangerous Permitless Carry Legislation

2.26.2019

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statement in response to the Kentucky Senate passing SB 150, a reckless piece of legislation that would allow permitless carry in Kentucky. Dozens of volunteers with the Kentucky chapter of Moms Demand Action will testify at next week’s House hearing on the bill.

“This vote is absolutely shameful,” said Connie Coartney, volunteer leader with the Kentucky chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Today marks one year since the tragic Parkland high school mass shooting, making this vote even more of a disgrace. Instead of focusing on common-sense gun legislation that will keep us safe, our lawmakers voted to do away with a system that keeps dangerous, violent criminals from carrying hidden, loaded guns in our state. This reckless policy would put all our families at risk. We urge the House to do better than their Senate colleagues and vote down this dangerous piece of legislation.”

SB 150 would dismantle Kentucky’s concealed carry permitting system, doing away with the current requirement that law enforcement conduct criminal background checks and ensure that applicants have completed safety training before issuing a carry permit. This would make it easy for convicted felons, domestic abusers and others who could not pass a background check to carry hidden, loaded guns throughout the state. This dangerous bill would also lower the standard for who can carry concealed guns, allowing people convicted of violent crimes like assault and terroristic threatening – who are now generally disqualified from obtaining a concealed carry permit – to legally carry loaded handguns in public. Passage of this dangerous bill would make Kentucky one of only a handful of states to abandon the core safety standards that are ensured by the state’s concealed carry permit system. States that have enacted permitless carry laws have seen a substantial increase in firearm violence.