Lawmakers try to lower age for concealed carry of guns in Kentucky
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- House Judiciary Committee advanced HB 312 to lower concealed carry age to 18.
- Bill would require training and background checks for provisional licenses.
- Supporters cite adult rights; opponents warn maturity and public safety risks.
Kentuckians could carry concealed firearms at age 18 instead of 21 under a bill headed to the House floor.
House Bill 312, approved Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee, would lower the age at which someone could apply to the Kentucky State Police for a newly created “provisional” concealed carry license.
Kentucky stopped requiring a concealed carry license in 2019 with its mandated firearms safety training and background checks for people age 21 and older. But the licenses remain available on a voluntary basis, and are required to take concealed guns into some other states that have stricter laws.
Under the House bill, people between the ages of 18 and 20 who want a provisional license would have to undergo training and background checks, said its lead sponsor, state Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge.
“Right now in Kentucky, citizens who are 18-, 19- and 20-years old can legally vote, they can sign contracts, they can join the miliary, start a family, own a business and possess a firearm,” Maddox told the committee.
“Yet currently, under the law, these same adults are prohibited from carrying that same firearm concealed for self-defense,” Maddox said. “Now, this creates a dangerous inconsistency. We recognize their adulthoods and the responsibilities that come with it in every other area. But we deny them the ability to protect themselves and their loved ones whenever they step outside their home.”
The committee voted 15-to-3 to send the bill to the full House.
The three Democrats who opposed the bill raised concerns about the risks of teenagers who aren’t fully mature having access to firearms.
“In the military, we train 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds extensively — extensively — and they don’t get to concealed carry. They get to use it (a weapon) when we tell them they can use it,” said state Rep. Pamela Stevenson, D-Louisville, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel.
“I’ve been talking to a lot of high school students, and their concern is not if they will be shot at, it’s when — and we’re not dealing with that epidemic,” Stevenson continued.
However, Maddox said the question of young adults getting legal access to firearms already has been settled in Kentucky. Her bill only addresses whether they can be licensed to carry those firearms concealed, she said.
The Senate last year passed a similar measure, Senate Bill 75, which stalled in the House. But unlike Maddox’s bill this year, that bill would have allowed 18-to-20-year-olds to carry a concealed firearm without a license, just as older Kentuckians can.
