County could build gun locker in courthouse lobby

The words “gun lobby” could have a whole new meaning in Sedgwick County.

Sedgwick County commissioners will vote Wednesday on whether to build a gun locker for visitors to leave their guns in when they go to the courthouse in downtown Wichita.

“It’s really about safety,” Commission Chairman Jim Howell said. “My motivation really is to create opportunities to be safe.”

Kansas allows concealed or open carry by residents who can legally possess a gun. But guns are currently prohibited at the Sedgwick County Courthouse. Only commissioned law enforcement officers can carry a weapon inside the courthouse building.

“As such, there is no place to secure a weapon when visitors come to the county courthouse,” according to county documents for the commission meeting agenda. “A gun locker … allows visitors to check their weapon in a secured locker while doing business in the County Courthouse.”

The gun locker would be in the northeast corner of the courthouse lobby. It would include bullet-resistant glass capable of stopping a .357 magnum discharge.

“The height of the new enclosure will protect staff and visitors that may be in the lobby or on the mezzanine,” the documents say. “These measures will minimize injury or damage that could be caused by an accidental discharge of a weapon being stowed.”

The gun locker would cost $64,318 in cash from the county’s capital improvement program reserves, according to county documents. It would cost $5,400 to design the gun locker and $58,918 to construct it.

Courthouse Police Chief Darrell Haynes said visitors could be given a key for a locker and handed a card with that locker’s number on it before they enter the rest of the courthouse.

“Procedures are not set yet, but that’s kind of what we have in mind,” Haynes said.

‘Their rights under the law’

Howell said the issue came to him from multiple gun owners who were concerned about leaving their guns in their cars or at home.

“They don’t feel safe disarming some distance from the courthouse and having to walk over here,” Howell said. “They thought we ought to have a way to carry into this building.

“There’s a lot of people we don’t know (in Wichita). We don’t know what’s going to happen,” Howell said.

Howell also said there’s a number of lawyers who frequent the courthouse who want a gun locker.

“There ought to be a way for them to exercise their rights under the law to protect themselves to the point that we provide security measures,” Howell said. “I want to provide safety when they come here. I want to provide safety when they leave.”

Howell said the gun locker could be a model for other courthouses.

“I’ve heard this complaint other places,” Howell said.

‘Unnecessary expense’

Commissioner Dave Unruh said he hasn’t heard the same number of complaints Howell has.

“In my 14 years, I have had one person who was an avid Second Amendment person who was not safe walking one block from her car to the county courthouse,” Unruh said.

“I frankly think that it is an unnecessary expense for our budget and for what we do at the courthouse,” he added.

Unruh, who has a concealed-carry license, said restricting guns in the courthouse lobby is not an undue burden on gun rights.

“I just think that we would not be violating anyone’s Second Amendment rights by saying ‘you can’t bring a gun into a courthouse,’ ” Unruh said. “Like any other freedom we have, there are certain limitations to it.”

Unruh also suggested there was a political reason to vote on the item before Commissioner Karl Peterjohn leaves office in January.

“I think it’s one of those things that needs to be on our agenda before the new commission takes it seats, for those who want to advance it.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2016 at 8:22 PM with the headline "County could build gun locker in courthouse lobby."