Part 2
In America, our right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed, and we must not allow this to be denied anyplace that we have a right to be. The only exception to this is in the rare instances when special security is provided to the general public as a whole. Elected officials and Kansas citizens are figuring out [that] a sign is not adequate security.
Implied in [HB 2052] is that the weapons themselves are not evil, but rather it is the actions of criminals that are evil. We can trust the citizens of Kansas and should not limit their freedoms based on the illegal activities of a few. Local control starts with our citizens, by protecting their constitutionally guaranteed individual liberties. Kansas [license holders] are not a threat to our security. We should not tread on their rights while at the same time taking no steps to prevent criminals from bringing illegal weapons into public buildings. Good Kansans with guns make all of Kansas safer.
What HB 2052 Provides
To summarize Sen. Knox’s outstanding explanation of Kansas HB 2052, publicly owned buildings in Kansas may no longer restrict licensed concealed carry unless “adequate security measures” are present. Adequate security measures mean two things:
- The use of electronic equipment and personnel at public entrances to detect and prevent the carrying of any weapons into the building by members of the general public. Electronic equipment may include metal detectors, metal detector wands or similar equipment used for detecting weapons.
- Adequate options for storing and securing lawfully carried weapons, such as gun lockers or similar storage devices at all public entrances.
Areas Not Covered by HB 2052
Publicly owned buildings that do not have open access to the public or that have only controlled access entrances are not explicitly covered by HB 2052. Examples of this include primary and secondary schools (K-12), which have an automatic exemption to the “adequate security measures” requirement. However, that does not automatically prohibit carrying in Kansas primary or secondary schools. It merely means that these schools may choose to post their schools as not allowing concealed carry without meeting the “adequate security measures” requirement. If they decide not to post, then license holders may legally carry in those buildings. Also, nothing in HB 2052 prevents law enforcement agencies from prohibiting weapons within the secure areas of their buildings. However, they cannot prohibit licensed concealed carry in the public areas unless they meet the “adequate security measures” requirement.
Government-Backed Armed Staff Program
In addition to the changes for posting requirements, HB 2052 also provides certain publicly owned institutions with authority to allow employees with a concealed carry license to carry within their buildings, even if the premises are posted.
These institutions, which may set their own policies or training requirements for allowing employees to carry, include the following state- or municipal-owned institutions:
- Unified school districts
- Medical care facilities
- Adult care homes
- Community mental health centers
- Indigent health care clinics
- Post-secondary educational institutions
Firearms in K-12 Schools
As mentioned, if a public
primary or secondary school in Kansas chooses to post its buildings as off-limits for concealed carry, it gets an automatic exemption to the “adequate security measures” requirement. But the decision to ban or not is left up to the individual school. The school may choose to allow carry by license holders. It can also choose to post signs informing license holders that they are not permitted to carry in the building. Or, as mentioned, the school may decide to allow licensed employees to carry, regardless of whether the school itself is posted.
Following ratification, HB 2052 provided municipalities with a limited exemption for six months in which to develop security plans. After that, one four-year exemption was allowed. After this four-year period (which ended on Dec. 31, 2017), no further exemption was allowed. After that date, all state and municipal buildings were required to either provide the “adequate security measures” as outlined or allow concealed carry licensees to carry in the building.
Using Kansas HB 2052 as a Model
While you might view Kansas HB 2052 as radical, it should really serve as a model for updating the laws in all 50 states. And it should serve as an example for all institutions that may decide, or have decided, to ban lawfully carried firearms. If legally armed Americans are forced to disarm at the front door, we must ask for and expect that the establishment accounts for our personal security by much more than a sign posted at the building entrance. We should expect the same type of “adequate security measures” as defined in Kansas HB 2052.
Let’s take this a step further.
In addition to providing “electronic equipment and personnel at public entrances to detect and restrict the carrying of any weapons into the state or municipal building,” the responsibility for protecting individuals within any disarmament zone must be borne by the body responsible for disarming them. In other words, if a governing body wants to remove your right to protect yourself with a firearm, it must do two things. First, it must have adequate security to ensure that no one else within the gun-free zone has a gun or any weapon. Second, it must provide armed security to defend you if an armed intruder can make it onto the property.
The
sterile area of airports is a good example. The U.S. government wants these areas to be weapon-free, so it has established security at each entrance to the sterile area to ensure that no one carries a gun, knife or any other type of weapon past security. Airports also provide armed security throughout the terminal and on many airplanes. Whether you believe that those measures are an adequate defense against a potential mass shooter or another terrorist attack on an aircraft, it is at least a model for how we should be thinking about disarmament zones elsewhere in the U.S.
If your child’s school wants to ban you from lawfully carrying a firearm on the premises, their moral obligation to you and your child is to ensure that no armed person may enter the premises (other than the mandatory armed security that the school has put in place).
No other option can avoid the nightmare scenario that all mass shooters look for and all parents dread. Any building where the authorities have conveniently disarmed everyone in it still allows an armed attacker to walk right in … unopposed.