The Kansas House has narrowly approved a
bill that would allow Kansans to carry concealed guns into more
public buildings.
The vote Wednesday was 65-57 and sent the bill to the Senate.
The chief sponsor, Republican Rep. Forrest Knox, of Altoona, said
he doubts the Senate will have enough time this year to consider
the measure.
Under the measure, cities, counties and the state couldn’t
prohibit people with concealed carry permits from bringing guns
into buildings unless those buildings had “adequate” security,
such as metal detectors.
The National Rifle Association supported the bill. Knox said it
was about trusting law-abiding citizens.
But state and local officials strongly opposed it, saying they’d
have to weigh installing expensive metal detectors against allowing
concealed weapons.