TOPEKA — Rep. Boog Highberger urged House peers to ban the public and legislators from bringing concealed firearms into the Capitol, but Rep. Blake Carpenter argued the 40 or so representatives carrying guns at the moment didn’t abandon constitutional rights at the door.
Their debate on the House floor revolved around House Bill 2058, which at its core addressed a mistake made a half-dozen years ago that raised questions about reciprocity of concealed handgun permits issued in Kansas and the validity of permits authorized by other states.
The bill was amended to create opportunity for 18-, 19- and 20-year-old Kansans to receive safety training and qualify for a concealed-gun permit.
The Republican-dominated House approved the package Thursday on a vote of 85-38 despite an assertion by Democratic Rep. Susan Ruiz of Shawnee the bill was anchored in gun-industry propaganda designed to ratchet up fear and a system of financial rewards for politicians backing the industry’s agenda.
“This is a bad bill, especially given our current political climate that perpetuates nationalism and racial division,” Ruiz said.
Highberger, a Democrat from Lawrence, said the rampage at the U.S. Capitol in January offered a timely lesson about what could happen in the Kansas Capitol. Under existing law and policy, adults 21 or older can carry concealed weapons in the Topeka building. It’s as easy as walking through the security checkpoint in the visitors’ entrance, he said.
“I don’t know how that makes you feel, but I’d rather have the Capitol Police be able to stop such individuals before they enter the building rather than rely on armed legislators,” he said.
Highberger proposed the bill be amended to restrict the carrying of concealed firearms to law enforcement officers within the Capitol. Carpenter, the Derby Republican, asked Highberger if anybody had run amok in the building in the years concealed guns had been allowed. Highberger said he recalled now-former Rep. Willie Dove left a loaded .380-caliber handgun in a holster under a table after a meeting of the House Education Committee.
“I do trust our Capitol Police and I thank them for the job they do,” Carpenter said. “However, I can tell you there are probably 30 to 40 firearms on this floor right now and there has been for many years. We’ve never had any issues.”
He said a person elected to the Legislature wasn’t required to be disarmed and stripped of Second Amendment rights whenever at work in the statehouse.
“Quite frankly,” Carpenter added, “if somebody started breaking down doors, I would like to still have the right to defend myself.”
Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat who said he had a concealed-carry license and owned a gun collection, said it was folly to believe a individual on the House floor in the middle of a crisis could precisely take out an active shooter one floor above in the House gallery. There is little doubt gun-wielding legislators firing into the gallery would kill innocent people, he said.
Highberger said he was disappointed advocates of concealed firearms used the term “constitutional carry” to describe the 2015 state law championed by the National Rifle Association enabling Kansans to carry concealed without a license, without training, without ownership and without any experience with firearms. He said U.S. Supreme Court opinions made clear there was no constitutional right to carry concealed, but states did have authority to adopt legislation to accomplish that objective.
“I support the Second Amendment,” he said, “but I support the Second Amendment as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court — not the National Rifle Association. There is no such constitutional right. That phrase is an alternative fact or what my mother would call a lie.”
The House defeated Highberger’s amendment on a voice vote.
