TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas lawmakers who want to keep concealed guns out of state hospitals have yet to settle on a path forward, though they’ve likely ruled out spending $24 million to secure the facilities.
Spending committees in the House and Senate have decided they won’t fund GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal that the state pay for metal detectors and armed guards at state hospitals for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. Both committees met Tuesday to continue work on their comprehensive spending bills. Under a 2013 law Brownback signed, the hospitals will have to allow guns starting July 1 unless they provide additional security measures such as guards and metal detectors.
Lawmakers on both sides of the gun debate were unwilling to spend the money while the Legislature works to fill an $887 million budget hole through June 2019. Opponents of the concealed carry policy are still hoping to keep guns out of the hospitals, but it’s unclear how they might go about rolling back the law. Lawmakers weren’t able to hold a floor debate before the legislature’s April break on the controversial concealed carry law, which will require that public universities, hospitals and nursing homes allow guns or provide security starting in July.
Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services Secretary Tim Keck said he is working with lawmakers to find a solution, whether it’s funding for security or an exemption from the concealed carry law.
House Democratic Leader Rep. Jim Ward said he thought a rollback of the broader concealed carry policy would have wide support in the House. But he said he hasn’t settled on a strategy to bring up the debate.
“We should do something that doesn’t cost $24 million that provides as much safety, which is tell people you can’t bring your gun to the state hospitals or to mental institutions or to nursing homes or college campuses,” Ward said.
Republican Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an outspoken opponent of campus carry, said she’s also looking into options for a rollback of concealed carry at colleges and hospitals, but she said she thought a bill might pass only giving state hospitals the right to restrict concealed carry in secured areas of the building.
That option is admissible to Republican Rep. J.R. Claeys, who opposed funding the $25 million security measures. He said allowing hospitals to restrict guns in locked areas would be more cost effective while allowing the hospitals to keep guns away from patients. He said he still supports the policy for other public hospitals, nursing homes and college campuses.
“Simply because I have a broken leg doesn’t mean I give up my right to defend myself,” he said.
Claeys said banning guns from hospitals doesn’t stop people from bringing them in. Concealed carry supporters have said people should be able to carry and defend themselves, unless officials can ensure a public building is gun-free using metal detectors and armed guards.
State university officials have been preparing to adhere to the law, though some lawmakers have made efforts to prevent guns from coming to campuses. Three universities will spend more than $2 million on security for large sporting events to comply.
Concealed carry supporters have tried to take away universities’ right to make any policies governing how and where people carry guns on campus, but that bill hasn’t gotten a committee vote.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.