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Senate passes firearms bill 35-0; House OKs it 86-
Josey1
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Senate passes firearms bill 35-0; House OKs it 86-9
By Deborah Yetter
dyetter@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Lawmakers yesterday approved a final version of a bill that critics said would loosen the state's concealed-weapons law and hamper a state crackdown on rogue firearms instructors.
But the sponsor of House Bill 97, Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, brushed off such concerns yesterday. He said his bill actually will make the law tougher by making it illegal to falsify firearms-safety-training records for those seeking permits to carry concealed weapons.
''It guarantees these folks are going to be trained,'' Damron said.
The Senate adopted the final version on a 35-0 vote with no dissent.
Several House members spoke against the bill, however, arguing that it went too far and stripped power from the Justice Cabinet to oversee the concealed-weapons program.
''It's a very dangerous precedent you're going to live to regret,'' said Rep. Bob Heleringer, R-Eastwood, one of nine House members who voted against the bill. It passed the House 86-9.
The bill originally proposed by Damron started out as a measure to allow sheriffs and deputies to carry concealed weapons while off duty.
But -- through various changes made to it along the way -- it also allows judges and prosecutors to carry weapons after they receive firearms training and jailers with no firearms training to do so.
It also would prohibit property owners from barring concealed weapons from their property as long as the owners have a permit and keep the weapons in their vehicles. And it would allow some government officials to carry weapons into places that generally prohibit concealed weapons such as schools, prisons and jails.
Justice Cabinet officials have objected that the bill will interfere with reforms the agency put in place after federal officials indicted six firearms instructors earlier this year. They are accused of involvement in a scheme to help people get concealed-weapons permits without completing required firearms training.
State Justice officials already had seized 120 weapons permits from people certified by the indicted instructors and are investigating whether about 3,000 people who were certified by the six men actually had completed a required firearms course. Justice Cabinet general counsel Barbara Jones said changes under HB 97 could interfere with those efforts because it would block the state from revoking instructors' certificates and concealed-weapons permits without an administrative hearing.
But Damron said the law actually cracks down on people who violate it by making it a criminal offense to falsify training records. It makes it a felony for an instructor to falsify records and a misdemeanor for people seeking permits to falsely claim they received training if they did not.
He noted that federal authorities charged the six instructors under the mail-fraud statute for mailing false paperwork and that the state has no provision to charge people who supply false records for firearms training.
The bill now goes to Gov. Paul Patton, who a spokesman said wants to review the final version before deciding on it.
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2002/04/16/ke041602s188437.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Deborah Yetter
dyetter@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Lawmakers yesterday approved a final version of a bill that critics said would loosen the state's concealed-weapons law and hamper a state crackdown on rogue firearms instructors.
But the sponsor of House Bill 97, Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, brushed off such concerns yesterday. He said his bill actually will make the law tougher by making it illegal to falsify firearms-safety-training records for those seeking permits to carry concealed weapons.
''It guarantees these folks are going to be trained,'' Damron said.
The Senate adopted the final version on a 35-0 vote with no dissent.
Several House members spoke against the bill, however, arguing that it went too far and stripped power from the Justice Cabinet to oversee the concealed-weapons program.
''It's a very dangerous precedent you're going to live to regret,'' said Rep. Bob Heleringer, R-Eastwood, one of nine House members who voted against the bill. It passed the House 86-9.
The bill originally proposed by Damron started out as a measure to allow sheriffs and deputies to carry concealed weapons while off duty.
But -- through various changes made to it along the way -- it also allows judges and prosecutors to carry weapons after they receive firearms training and jailers with no firearms training to do so.
It also would prohibit property owners from barring concealed weapons from their property as long as the owners have a permit and keep the weapons in their vehicles. And it would allow some government officials to carry weapons into places that generally prohibit concealed weapons such as schools, prisons and jails.
Justice Cabinet officials have objected that the bill will interfere with reforms the agency put in place after federal officials indicted six firearms instructors earlier this year. They are accused of involvement in a scheme to help people get concealed-weapons permits without completing required firearms training.
State Justice officials already had seized 120 weapons permits from people certified by the indicted instructors and are investigating whether about 3,000 people who were certified by the six men actually had completed a required firearms course. Justice Cabinet general counsel Barbara Jones said changes under HB 97 could interfere with those efforts because it would block the state from revoking instructors' certificates and concealed-weapons permits without an administrative hearing.
But Damron said the law actually cracks down on people who violate it by making it a criminal offense to falsify training records. It makes it a felony for an instructor to falsify records and a misdemeanor for people seeking permits to falsely claim they received training if they did not.
He noted that federal authorities charged the six instructors under the mail-fraud statute for mailing false paperwork and that the state has no provision to charge people who supply false records for firearms training.
The bill now goes to Gov. Paul Patton, who a spokesman said wants to review the final version before deciding on it.
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2002/04/16/ke041602s188437.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878