KENTUCKY (AP) - A bill, called S.B. 150, that would allow people to carry a concealed handgun without a permit or training has been advanced by a Senate committee and full Senate in Kentucky.
The measure is backed by the powerful National Rifle Association.
The bill's advancement coincided with the first anniversary of a Florida shooting that killed 17 students and staff members.
A critic of the bill, Connie Coartney, said Kentucky lawmakers marked the anniversary by advancing "more dangerous gun legislation and doing the bidding" for the NRA. She is with the Kentucky chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Supporters say people already can carry weapons openly without training.
Sen. Brandon Smith, the bill's sponsor, said it's not fair that someone now needs a permit if they carry a gun under a coat.
The measure, backed by the National Rifle Association, cleared the Senate on a 29-8 vote on Thursday, a few hours after a committee advanced it. The bill now goes to the House.
A closer look at SB150
Kentucky is an open carry state and you don't need a license to do so.
The sponsors of the bill argue it would only be a minor change from open carry. Sen. Brandon Smith, a Republican from Hazard, said the bill wouldn't have much impact on the state because open carry is already allowed without a permit.
"Setting aside the political side and just looking at the legal, and the historical and the practical implications, it's something that's very much in line with who Kentuckians are as a people," said Aaron Silletto.
Silletto is a Firearms Law Attorney in Louisville. He added the bill is also in line with the country's legal history. He said this is a policy issue, and not a constitutional one.
The bill's supporters say it falls under basic second amendment rights, something Silletto said is strong in this state.
"In Kentucky, we have a long history of firearms ownership in this state," Silletto said. "There's Kentucky case law going back to the middle of the nineteenth century that says that our state constitution provides the broadest protection possible for the ownership and carrying of firearms."
Supporters also say the change could be a deterrent to crime if more people are able to concealed carry.
"The theory behind allowing more people to carry concealed weapons, and it is a theory, is that the more people out there who are possessing firearms lawfully, and are following the laws, are qualified and meet all of the legal requirements to be able to carry firearms, the bad guys don't know who's going to be carrying and who's not so I think that the theory is one of deterrence," Silletto said.
So does that mean just anyone can now have and carry a concealed weapon?
No it doesn't. You still need to pass a background check and be able to get a weapon as a lawful-abiding citizen. Those rules would not change under SB150.
The change would drop the training currently required to obtain a license, which is something some people find concerning.
"Right now you don't know what you don't know and people don't know what they don't know," Barry Laws said. "You're going to miss out on training, they're going to miss out on the safeties, they're going to miss out on how to store firearms, and the laws in Kentucky. They won't know those."
Laws is the owner and weapons instructor of Open Range.
"Your average person just wants to get by on the least possible information, so I'm concerned that they're not going to learn about those things that are critical to owning and carrying a gun," Laws said.
The bill doesn't change the restrictions of where you can't carry a firearm already today, such as schools and federal property. But those opposed to the bill still worry about overall gun safety, it it should become law.
One the other hand, many who support the bill say it decriminalizes those who lawfully carry a firearm.
"In general, people are gonna carry if they want to carry anyway. Do you want to take a law-abiding citizen and make them a criminal because you have some law that is so similar to open carry, that because their jacket happens to cover it, so there's a lot of gray zone in this that doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Laws said.
Laws believes people should have training to concealed carry, but he said "in some logic" he still thinks the bill "is okay."
"But again, we're teetering that with what should people have to learn to be able to carry something that could end someone's life," Laws said.