LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky lawmaker has filed two bills that would expand who could carry concealed guns and where.

What You Need To Know

  • Rep. Savannah Maddox (R-Dry Ridge) has filed two bills to expand gun rights 

  • House Bills 118 and 138 have not yet been assigned to a committee

  • Some are speaking in opposition to the measures, which would make changes to who could carry concealed guns and where

  • Lawmakers return to Frankfort next week 

While neither measure has advanced in the legislature yet, some are already speaking in opposition to the bills.

Current state law says if you are 21 or older and lawfully allowed to carry a gun, you can carry it concealed without a license in the same places as people with valid licenses.

House Bill 118 from Rep. Savannah Maddox (R-Dry Ridge) would lower the age that is allowed from 21 to 18. 

Rep. George Brown Jr. (D-Lexington) said it doesn’t make sense to him, especially given the recent mass shootings that have happened around the country. 

“It seems to me, even with those over 21 having concealed carry, it’s almost like the wild, wild West,” he told Spectrum News 1. “I don’t know who’s carrying and what you can say to somebody and what would trigger somebody.”

Another measure, House Bill 138, would change state law to allow carrying concealed in elementary and secondary schools, except by students.

Tyra Thomas-Walker, an educator with Jefferson County Public Schools, said it would create a scary situation for schools. 

“We do not want any guns in our schools via educators and/or parents, so we can’t decipher who’s going to come in and if a parent has one and they are licensed to carry and that bill becomes a law then it would be okay for them to come in,” she said.     

Maddox declined to comment on the bills. 

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