(Photo by Stephen Koranda)When lawmakers return to the Kansas Statehouse for the coming legislative session, some of them will be allowed to bring concealed guns. A bill passed last year allows concealed carry in many public buildings. As KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports, a legislative committee met yesterday (WED) to review security at the state Capitol and the effects of the concealed carry law.
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Members of the public with a concealed weapons permit will not be allowed to carry guns in the Statehouse, for now. However, legislators with a permit are allowed to carry concealed guns. But security officials say having concealed weapons in the Statehouse could pose problems if there’s a report of a shooting. Capitol Police Sergeant Terry Golightley says there could be issues when officers respond to a report of gunfire. If an officer sees someone with a gun, even if it’s a lawmaker, the officer would have to make a split-second decision whether to shoot or not.
“When we arrive at that scene, we have about less than a second to decide because if somebody has a gun in their hand it could be possibly they’re a good guy taking out the gunman. It also could be that they’re getting ready to take another person’s life,” says Golightley.
The rules about guns in the Statehouse could be changing in the future. A legislative committee has until this summer to make final decisions.