I’m not bashing Kansas, but I am going to bash Kansas Republicans for the bill Governor Sam Brownback signed into law today, making it legal, starting in July, for any resident of Kansas to carry a concealed firearm legally without obtaining a permit and without any required training regarding firearm safety. Once again, Republicans lead the charge for unsafe, irrational gun laws.
(Reuters) – Kansas residents will be allowed to carry concealed weapons in the state without training or a permit starting in July under a bill signed into law on Thursday by Governor Sam Brownback.
Brownback, a Republican, said the new law will protect the rights of gun owners, while opponents said the measure poses safety risks.
“Responsible gun ownership – for protection and sport – is a right inherent in our Constitution,” Brownback said in a statement.
How does allowing people to carry concealed weapons without proper safety training further the goals of responsible gun ownership, other than in the minds of NRA extremists and knuckleheads like Brownback and his fellow Republicans in the Kansas state legislature? I sure don’t see it. Maybe someone can explain the reasoning behind this law, because to me it looks like pure pandering to NRA lobbyists and crazy people, not “responsible” gun owners.
To be fair to Kansas Republicans, they are not alone in their lunacy, at least according to Brownback’s office, which claims that Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona and Arkansas have passed similar laws, or are considering them (I hope any other state legislature considering such a law considers it a whole heck of a lot better than the idiots in the Kansas state legislature). Of course Brownback says he “encourages” all gun owners to take gun safety classes, but that’s pure hypocrisy in my view. If one can buy a firearm or carry it around, concealed or otherwise, without any legal requirement to learn how to maintain, handle and use their guns in a safe manner, how many people do you think are going to bother attending a firearms safety class?
In the meantime, this woman speaks for me:
Loren Stanton, president of the Kansas chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, questioned the wisdom of making training voluntary for carrying a concealed weapon.
“There is no way that taking away training can make guns safer,” Stanton said.
She’s got that right.
