KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas lawmakers want to change the minimum age to apply for and receive a concealed carry permit from 21 years old to 18.
"It seems wrong if you can say you can fight for your country, but you cant protect yourself,” Frontier Justice owner Bren Brown said.
Concealed carry is a hot topic in Topeka, Kansas, right now among lawmakers. The Kansas House of Representatives recently passed legislation to lower the minimum age, so it's up to the Kansas Senate now.
Brown noted that the law should be changed to include a requirement for proper training in handling a firearm.
“I think the extra training and all the education about the law is really important to safely use it properly and to protect yourself,” Brown said.
The law would require applicants to take one concealed-carry training course, but some people believe that is not enough.
“Eight hours? I mean, police go under intense training and sometimes they are still trigger happy," a woman named Katie, who declined to give her last name, said. "Yeah, I don’t agree with it."
Opinions from others in the community were similarly mixed.
“I'd be concerned about the training, the inexperience," Robert Frampus Fry said. "They don’t have a lot of real-world experience at 18."
Katie added, "I think that is too young. The mind is still growing. I don’t think they are ready to handle that type of responsibility,."
Several states, like Alabama and Montana, already have 18-year-old concealed carry. Missouri has concealed carry for 21-year-old gun owners, but there is an exception for 18-year-olds in the military.
Brown said the change could pose an additional problem from gun store owners, because 18-year-olds can't buy guns from stores like hers in Kansas City, Kansas.
“A parent and an 18-year-old will come into our facility and the 18-year-old wants to buy a firearm and we say, 'You aren’t of age,'" Brown said. "Then, the parent will say, 'I will do it.' We can’t do that. It's illegal. It's called a straw purchase, and we would lose our license through the ATF."
