On May 16, the Republican-controlled Kansas Senate put off what promises to be a “contentious” gun rights’ debate by sending a bill back to committee to fine tune all the exemptions being sought before campus carry takes effect July 1.
According to the Associated Press, the bill that was sent back to committee is seeking a “[partial] roll back” of the campus carry law, particularly as it relates to “public hospitals and nursing homes, community mental health centers, low-income health clinics and the University of Kansas Hospital.”
All of these facilities would be given an exemption whereby they would be allowed to ban guns for self-defense without meeting the security criteria other facilities must meet before putting similar prohibitions in place.
Kansas’ campus carry law is structured in a way that requires universities to provide adequate security if they decide to bar law-abiding citizens from carrying guns for self-defense. Such security includes metal detectors and armed guards.
Ironically, the Kansas Senate budget committee rejected Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) request for funds “to pay for security equipment and personnel at the state-owned hospitals for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled” and now that such security is lacking — and law-abiding citizens plan on carrying guns for self-defense — the Senate is discussing how they might prevent law-abiding citizens from carrying their firearms.
The bill to water down the campus carry law is now headed back to the Senate Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Sen. Carolyn McGinn (R-31).
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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