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Debate Over Campus Carry Likely To Return To The Kansas Statehouse

Stephen Koranda
/
KPR/File photo
The House chambers at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka.

A Kansas law will allow guns on university campuses and in public hospitals later this year. Efforts to amend the policy have faltered in the Legislature, but the issue is likely to come up again after lawmakers return to the Statehouse in May.

The law says most public places in Kansas must allow concealed weapons, unless there is security in place to make sure no one carries a gun. An exemption for universities and hospitals expires this summer.

Republican Rep. Stephanie Clayton, who opposes guns on campus, says they should have an open debate on the topic when they come back.

“The discussion should be out there. It’s going to be unpleasant at times," Clayton says. "It’s a very divisive issue, but that discussion needs to be had and it needs to be had in the open."

A free-for-all debate would also allow for proposals to strengthen the concealed carry law.

A majority of House members voted to hold off on a debate earlier this month, while there are back-room meetings on some kind of compromise.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.