Beginning this week, adults in Kentucky who are under the age of 21 can exercise their right to bear arms either openly or concealed, though they still have more hoops to jump through than those 21 and older.
Lawmakers in the Bluegrass state approved HB 312 earlier this year, and ultimately overrode Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto, setting up a “provisional” concealed carry permit for adults 18-to-20-years-old.
The biggest difference between the provisional carry permit and the concealed carry license available for adults over the age of 21 is that the provisional license is recognized only within Kentucky’s borders. A regular Kentucky concealed carry license is recognized in 37 states, according to the United States Concealed Carry Association.
Kentucky’s open carry law has long allowed for anyone 18 and older to bear arms that aren’t concealed, but the new law will expand those protections to concealed carry as well, at least for those willing to go through six hours of training and a “shall issue” application process.
HB 312 is still a compromise in many ways, since Kentuckians 21 and older don’t need a permit at all to exercise their right to bear arms. Still, the middle ground of a provisional carry license was too much for the state’s Democrat governor, who expressed his displeasure with the legislation when he vetoed it in early April.
While I believe in the Second Amendment, Kentuckians under age 21 cannot rent a car, cannot buy alcohol, cannot buy tobacco products, cannot consume medical cannabis through vapor devices, and cannot be a State Representative or Senator. Under another bill filed this session they would not be able to place a sports bet. Kentuckians are also allowed to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until they are 26 years old. Laws setting these minimum age limits are meant to protect our youth.
Yet under House Bill 312, minors under age 21 could carry concealed deadly weapons, even though federal law restricts their ability to buy handguns. Tonight, I’m remembering my friend Tommy Elliott, who was murdered along with four other children of God three years ago in an act of gun violence. I’m vetoing this bill in his honor.
Elliott was one of five people shot and killed at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky in 2023. The killer was a 25-year-old former employee who used a rifle he’d recently purchased. One of the killer’s motivations, according to notes he left, was to demonstrate that a person with mental illness could legally acquire a firearm in the United States, and he specifically targeted “upper class white people” because he thought it would have more of an impact on the gun control debate.
I don’t know why Beshear decided to name check his late friend while vetoing a bill that had no bearing on that shooting, but Beshear’s attempt to juvenilize young adults didn’t go over well in the legislature, which easily overrode his veto. Yes, Kentuckians under the age of 21 can’t do some things that older adults can, including purchase a handgun from an FFL, but even before HB 312 they could buy a pistol in a private sale, possess that handgun in their home, and openly carry it on their hip. Why shouldn’t they be able to carry concealed as well?
I’d love to see Kentucky’s permitless carry law kick in at the age of 18 as well, and I hope that lawmakers will move in that direction after its become clear that the provisional carry license hasn’t led to an explosion of violence. HB 312 is still progress, though, and I’m glad to see that young adults in Kentucky now have a way to bear arms in the manner that most of us prefer, despite the protests of the state’s governor and gun control activists.
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