Republican Rep. Savannah Maddox says Kentucky’s current firearms laws create a “dangerous inconsistency” by not permitting 18, 19 and 20 year olds to carry concealed deadly weapons.
“We recognize their adulthood 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,” said Maddox, from Dry Ridge.
Right now, Kentuckians who are 21 years and older don’t need a permit to carry a concealed firearm. Kentuckians who are 18 years old are allowed to carry a gun in the state, but they are required to do so openly. Military personnel, however, are allowed to concealed carry at 18 years old.
The legislation would allow these younger adults to apply for provisional licenses that would require up to eight hours of a firearm safety and training course and a state and federal background check.
Maddox said her bill does not increase access to firearms — young adults may already buy and possess them in Kentucky.
“This is simply a situation which allows them to carry concealed with training, with a background check and with proficiency in handling and operating firearms,” Maddox said.
The bill passed a Kentucky House committee vote with all 15 present Republicans voting yes and the three Democrats in opposition.
It’s a somewhat more stringent version of a bill that came just shy of final passage in last year’s legislative session. Last year’s Senate Bill 75 would not have required a background check or any amount of training. It faced opposition from Democrats but also some Republicans who worried about further expanding access without requiring training — a concern that appears to have been addressed in the new legislation.
However, Democrats on the committee said they felt the bill still went too far and failed to address gun violence. Kentucky’s overall gun death rate increased by 31% from 2014 to 2023, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
House Democratic Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson of Louisville says she views gun violence as a health crisis, and the answer should not be to grant even more access to firearms.
“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 said.
The legislation would not change where Kentuckians are not allowed to carry concealed weapons — the general public is still prohibited from carrying guns in schools and courthouses. Concealed carry is also prohibited in the state Capitol, excluding lawmakers.
Rep. Nick Wilson, a Republican from Williamsburg, said he also thought that, possibly, the opportunity for a provisional license would encourage more young people to get formal training.
“I may be looking at this too practically, but I think it's going to cause a lot of people to take training that otherwise would just wait until they're 21 and [conceal] carry,” Wilson said.
