Democrats in the Kansas Legislature have introduced a bill that would allow colleges and universities to continue banning concealed guns on campus. State law allows concealed firearms in most public buildings that don't have adequate security measures in place.
Universities have been exempt from that law but the exemption expires next year. This new proposal would give universities a permanent exemption. Democratic Senator Tom Holland says the state shouldn’t be dictating these policies.
“In my mind, it’s the faculty, it’s the student body, it’s the administration of the schools that should be determining their policies concerning having guns on campus,” Holland says. “I feel local control is the issue. In my mind, the people that are frequenting the campus, I think they need to have a say as far as if they want firearms on campus or not.”
Some supporters of the current law say Second Amendment rights extend to colleges and a ban on concealed weapons won’t stop someone determined to bring a gun on campus.
