TOPEKA, Kan. — A measure Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law will allow Kansas public schools, universities and colleges to arm employees with concealed guns and loosens restrictions on carrying concealed weapons into public buildings, starting in July.
The state Board of Regents’ chairman said Wednesday that he expects the board to back away from its ban on concealed weapons on state university campuses because of the new law, which Brownback signed late Tuesday. The law will continue to permit universities, community colleges and technical colleges to prohibit concealed guns in their buildings for another four years, but regents Chairman Tim Emert said he’s confident the board will modify its policies so that a full ban for universities doesn’t remain in place that long.
The law, which takes effect July 1, also allows state agencies and local governments to continue banning concealed weapons through 2017, but it requires them to declare publicly they’ve developed plans for adequate security for their buildings.
The new law also will allow local boards of education, state university presidents and community and technical college boards to designate employees who are allowed to carry concealed guns in their buildings, whatever their policies for the general public. The law also won’t make people with valid state permits subject to criminal prosecution if they carry concealed weapons into a building, though officials can direct them to remove the gun or leave.
Emert, a former state Senate majority leader from Independence, said the Board of Regents will re-examine its policy against concealed weapons on university campuses, perhaps by the end of the year. He said the board will keep the ban in place until then, but he said the goal is to consider modifications quickly. The boards of community and technical colleges would set their own policies.
“We know what the vote was in the Legislature. We know it was overwhelming,” Emert told The Associated Press. “I feel with a certain degree of confidence that there will be some adjustments in our policies.”
The concealed carry legislation cleared the Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this month with four-fifths majorities in both chambers. Brownback signed it the same day he signed another measure declaring that the federal government has no authority to regulate guns, ammunition and accessories that are manufactured, sold and kept only in Kansas.
Legislators acted in the wake of discussions among federal officials about new gun-control measures following December’s mass, fatal shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. But Sen. Forrest Knox, an Altoona Republican who’s a leading advocate for both gun-rights measure, said many of their provisions have been reviewed by state lawmakers for several years.
Lawmakers enacted a law allowing the carrying of concealed weapons in 2005 over then-Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ veto, and the state began issuing permits in 2006. Since then, some legislators like Knox have been frustrated because they believe the regents and local officials have been too quick to prohibit guns in their buildings, using the power granted to them to bar weapons simply by posting notices at entrances.
“Kansas citizens who are licensed to carry are law-abiding citizens. There is no danger from them,” Knox said. “The problem is not guns.”
