Menu

Kansas Amends Concealed Carry Law for Public Employers

6/16/2016

On July 1, 2016, the Kansas concealed carry law will change. If a municipality wants to prohibit concealed handguns and other weapons from its municipal buildings, it must now have adequate posting, metal detectors, and armed personnel at each entrance. Otherwise, a public employer may no longer prohibit an employee from carrying a concealed handgun on the job. Before the amendment, a mere posting was sufficient to ban concealed handguns from a municipal building and employers could, by personnel policies, prohibit employees from carrying concealed handguns.

Public employers retain the ability to restrict weapons other than concealed handguns.

These most recent amendments are found in sections 75-7c10(b), 7c10(e), 7c20(c), and 7c20(m) of the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act.

For private employers, the law remains the same. Private employers may prohibit their employees from carrying weapons on duty. Private buildings may restrict concealed carry by posting the appropriate Attorney General-approved signage at all of the building’s entrances.

K-12 schools are excluded from the definition of “public employer” under the amended Act, leaving their status unchanged. They can ban concealed carry by the appropriate signage. Federal laws prohibit persons who are not licensed to concealed carry from possessing a loaded firearm within school zones, except on private property. 

The Kansas Board of Regents voted earlier this year to permit concealed carry on university and community college campuses, effective July 1, 2017. 

In 2015, Kansas approved concealed carry for Kansans 21 years of age or older without need for a permit or training.

Kansas approved open carry of firearms in 2014. Kansans 18 years of age and older may openly carry firearms on their person or in cars without any license.

Takeaways

  • Public employers should revise their weapons policies to be consistent with the amended law on concealed carry of handguns by public employees.
  • Risk managers must consider whether to accept concealed carry or take on the cost of statutorily-required security measures.

If you have questions about this alert, please contact your Lathrop Gage attorney or either of the attorneys listed above.