Kansas will become the fifth state to allow its residents to carry concealed firearms without a permit throughout the state.
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback on Thursday signed a bill ending the permit requirement. The change takes effect July 1.
The National Rifle Association says Kansas joins Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming in having such a policy. The NRA says Montana and Arkansas have concealed carry without a permit, but not everywhere.
Kansas still will issue permits for gun owners who want to carry concealed in other states that recognize Kansas permits. A person seeking a Kansas permit must undergo eight hours of firearms training.
Brownback said gun owners have shown they are responsible.
But Democratic state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau of Wichita said the state still should require some training.
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Quebec Gun Registry
The Quebec government will build its own long gun registry with or without federal co-operation, the province's public security minister said after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled to destroy Quebec's federal registry data.
“The premier has taken steps to put in place a Quebec gun registry with or without the federal gun registry data. There will be a Quebec registry," said Lise Thériault, Quebec's public security minister.
In a split 5-4 decision, the top court found the federal government’s law requiring the destruction of gun certificate information is lawful under the Constitution, and the province of Quebec has no right to the data.
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Supreme Court Overturns Mandatory Sentencing
The Conservative government reaffirmed its tough-on-crime commitment Tuesday, trying to appear undeterred by yet another Supreme Court of Canada decision striking down as unconstitutional a showcase statute in its signature anti-crime agenda.
The government’s mandatory-minimum sentencing regime for illegal possession of a firearm, introduced in 2008 as part of the Tackling Violent Crime Act, violates Section 12 of the Charter of Rights because it has the potential to be cruel and unusual punishment, the court ruled in a 6-3 decision.
The judgment is the seventh major defeat for the government and its policies and arguments at the hands of the Supreme Court since 2011.
Its anti-crime agenda in particular has now suffered three stinging blows. High-court rulings struck down as unconstitutional Conservative statutes limiting inmates’ credit for pre-trial time spent in custody, and changes to parole eligibility.
But the gun-sentencing law was seen as the biggest test yet of the government’s ability to legislate in the face of what some see as a Supreme Court with high regard for judicial discretion and independence.
