Sen. Pat Pettey, D – 6th Dist., and Rep. Nancy Lusk, D-Overland Park, introduced today a bill called the Safe Communities Amendment. It amends the Personal Family Protection Act to give municipalities the right to file for four-year exemptions from allowing concealed carry in their buildings.
“Locally elected leaders have already heard from their communities and have made the tough decisions of whether to allow guns or not in their municipal buildings or educational institutions,” Sen. Pettey said. “This legislation allows them to continue on the path of using local control to make decisions based on what is best and safest for their citizens.”
The Personal Family Protection Act passed in 2013 to allow the possession of firearms in certain governmental buildings. The law allowed a municipality to file a request with the attorney general’s office for a one-time, four-year exemption from the law along with a safety plan for every building.
“The language of the current law is included in our bill,” Rep. Lusk said. “Municipalities will still have to request the exemption from the attorney general and have to provide their security plan, but it gives local leaders the ability to decide for their communities.”
Both bills were introduced into their chamber’s Committee on Federal and State Affairs.