Add District Attorney Marc Bennett to list of those opposing gun bill

A House committee will discuss whether Kansas should allow residents to carry concealed weapons without first getting a permit.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett won’t be at the 9 a.m. Friday hearing to talk about it, but count him opposed, he said.

Senate Bill 45 passed 31-7 in the Kansas Senate. It is now being considered by the House state and federal affairs committee. As it is now worded, the bill would allow adults to carry concealed weapons without the permit or training now required under current law.

Bennett says he believes in gun rights but thinks this proposal goes too far.

“I get it that guys in favor of this argue that defending ourselves and our homes is a constitutional right,” Bennett said. “But the current conceal-carry law, with the training that went with it, did a nice job of informing people, including people who thought they were already well informed, about what the law says, not only about the possession but about the use of weapons. The people who take that training invariably see the law in a different light.”

“So I don’t know what the rush is to do away with a law that’s done a good job. What’s the hurry?”

Bennett sent a letter to members of the south-central legislative delegation on Thursday, outlining some of his concerns. Among other things, he wrote that in Kansas, the laws regarding self-defense, no duty to retreat, defense of a dwelling, immunity from prosecution and aggravated assault “are all specifically defined and more nuanced than people might think. I can tell you from interacting with juries over the past twenty years, the average person learns a great deal when they are presented with the actual legal instructions from the court.”

His point, he wrote, was that people learned this from concealed-carry training that will go away if the bill passes.

Bennett also thinks the proposed bill will make the job of being a law enforcement officer harder than it is now. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said the same thing last week.

Patricia Stoneking says what Bennett and other critics have said about SB 45 is “insulting to Kansans.” She is president and chief lobbyist for the Kansas State Rifle Association, a state affiliate of the National Rifle Association.

“Owning a gun is not only a choice but a lifestyle,” she said. “Anyone with any sense of responsibility already knows that guns are dangerous and that owning one means you need to know what the law says about using a gun. These critics are not only acting from fear but not giving Kansas gun owners any credit for having any brains in their heads.”

Other law enforcement officers also have opposed SB 45. Mike Fleming, the police chief in Fairway, a city in Johnson County, said Thursday that the organization he heads, the Johnson County Chiefs and Sheriff Association, has not taken a vote or a public stand against SB 45; but he said the 32 members of the association “overwhelmingly oppose it.” They think this legislation needlessly makes the job of law officers harder, more stressful, he said.

“Where you get to the real confusing part, if this bill passes, is that officers are now going to have to consider that motorists not only are carrying a gun but have no training, including training on what to do if they carry a firearm and get stopped by police,” he said.

“So now somebody carrying a firearm might get out of the car and then lean over to get something out of the glove box, now exposing the gun they are wearing,” he said. “The officer has no idea why there’s a gun there. This bill opens up a whole Pandora’s box of what-ifs, beyond the concerns the officer always already has in any stop.”

Bennett said using a gun, or even pulling it out, can have serious consequences for gun owners. “Those classes for concealed-carry permits helped establish a common understanding of what the law says about gun use – as well as what the legal ramifications could be if you use them. I don’t understand why we want to do away with that.”

The proposed law would not apply to someone prohibited by federal or state law from possessing a firearm, such as a convicted felon or someone who is mentally ill. The proposed law also would not apply to people under 21.

Gun rights advocates, including Sen. Terry Bruce, R-Hutchinson, who introduced SB 45, have argued repeatedly that Kansas already has, in addition to the current concealed-carry law, an open-carry law allowing people to carry a firearm in full view that does not require a permit or training.

And Bruce and other advocates have said that other states have passed laws similar to SB 45, allowing the carrying of concealed weapons without training or permits. Bruce and others say there were no jumps in gun crime or gun violence in those states, including in states like Arizona, which includes Phoenix and its big-city problems.

Some business leaders from Sedgwick County also have misgivings about SB 45. Bill Warren, owner of the Warren Theatres, said Thursday that if it passes, he plans, for the first time, to ban weapons at his Kansas movie theater locations.

He said he is sure that SB 45 will eventually increase insurance costs at his five locations in Wichita.

“But my main concern is the safety of our customers,” Warren said. At his five locations, he employs 40 to 50 local law enforcement officers to ensure customer safety.

SB 45 will make their job as security officers extra difficult, Warren said.

This story was originally published March 12, 2015 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Add District Attorney Marc Bennett to list of those opposing gun bill."