I got home from picking up my daughter from school, fire up my browser, navigate to Facebook and the first thing I see is an article reporting that Kansas’ Gov. Brownback has signed a bill that will allow any Kansan to buy and conceal a firearm without having to submit to background checks, mandatory firearms training or even paying a license fee. Clearly Gov. Brownback is not concerned with public safety!
Obviously, this new bill was pushed for and lobbied for by the Kansas State Rifle Association and the National Rifle Association. While other large groups opposed to the new conceal and carry law were completely ignored, Brownback just looked the other way at the nodding rifle association lobbyists.
The usual rhetoric of owning guns is a “constitutional right” was wheeled out for the press. Frankly the constitution for the most part is no longer relevant in today’s world. When the right to bear arms was enacted in the second amendment, America was a very different place, we no longer live in 1791, we live in 2015 and the constitution and bill of rights need to be updated to reflect the world we live in now.
I am very much anti-firearm and have been very vocal about making it tougher to buy guns with stringent background checks, psychological assessments, strict licensing, training and inspections of gun holders premises, but unfortunately the NRA are very powerful and has a lot of influence in Washington DC.
What is is going to take to make gun reform actually happen? clearly the multiple school shootings in this generation alone is not enough. Maybe someone getting into the house or senate and killing dozens of politicians? It’s truly disgusting that the people we elect to represent us blatantly turn a blind eye to thousands of gun related crimes daily to keep organizations like the National Rifle Association appeased.
Brownback’s decision to allow any “law abiding” Kansan to buy and conceal a firearm without any background checks or training is truly unbelievably irresponsible. The Governor is putting firearms in the hands of someone that might not be physically or mentally competent to use a firearm safely. This is a massive public safety concern, but the Governor is more concerned with appeasing his gun toting friends.