On Thursday, Governor Sam Brownback signed into law Senate Bill 45, the permitless concealed carry legislation, earning praise from the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legal Action and criticism from Everytown for Gun Safety and a related group, the Kansas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
“On behalf of the NRA’s 5 million members, we want to thank Governor Brownback and Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce for their leadership on this critical issue,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA-ILA. “This new law is a common sense measure that allows law-abiding Kansans to exercise their fundamental right to self-protection in the manner that best suits their needs.”
Cox noted most Kansans already have the right to carry a firearm openly without a permit. But, if “a firearm becomes covered by a coat or if a woman prefers to carry a firearm for protection in her purse, he or she would need a concealed carry handgun license.” The new law extends their rights.
Four states state have adopted permitless carry laws similar to Kansas’ law, and nine more are considering it. NRA claims murder rates have gone down in the pioneers states, “declining by 23 percent in Alaska, 16 percent in Arizona, and 8 percent in Wyoming.”
Why they left out Vermont, the first state to adopt such a law, is a mystery.
Wasn’t the concealed carry (with a permit) law supposed to lower crime? It also provided a legal way for a woman to carry a pistol in her purse, but only if she got some training on how to do so safely.
The Kansas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America condemned Governor Brownback’s decision to sign S.B. 45, saying it will “effectively dismantle the state’s concealed carry permitting system.”
TerriLynn Barnett Miller, a volunteer chapter leader for the group, noted “Kansas will become one of only five states to allow people to carry hidden, loaded handguns in public places without any training or permit required.”
Citing an Everytown poll showing a large majority of Kansans oppose SB 45 as a “misguided effort to allow dangerous people and those who have never handled a firearm before to carry handguns in public,” Miller said, “We’re disappointed that Governor Brownback and the Kansas Legislature chose to ignore the will of 78 percent of Kansans who know how important basic handgun training is before carrying a weapon. Over the last several months, moms, gun violence survivors, gun shop owners, and plenty of other Kansans spoke out against this dangerous setback for public safety. But today Governor Brownback ignored us, looked the other way, and our state will be less safe as a result.”
Sounds like a misfire.
