LAWRENCE, Kan. -- This year whenever Kevin Willmott is teaching, he will be wearing a bulletproof vest.
The film and media professor at the University of Kansas told 41 Action News it’s a way to “protest” a Kansas law that now allows students and others to carry concealed handguns on campuses without a permit and without training.
“The vest is this reminder that yeah there could be a gun in your presence here, and it’s a bad thing. It’s to give people discomfort,” Willmott said.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Kansas is one of ten states that have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on postsecondary campuses.
Sixteen states, including Missouri, ban campus carry.
These states, including Missouri, have bans prohibiting concealed carry on post-secondary campuses ?? @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/0YUZOgYeD4
— Ariel Rothfield KSHB (@arothfield) September 1, 2017
These states, including Kansas, have provisions allowing concealed carry on post-secondary campuses ?? @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/0DAiW96Utf
— Ariel Rothfield KSHB (@arothfield) September 1, 2017
Kansas state lawmakers passed the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act in 2013. However, the law did not go into effect until July 1, 2017.
“I’m not too concerned about having someone carry a weapon on them,” said Garrett Miller, a junior at KU who supports the new law. “What was preventing people prior to the law being instated?”
Victoria Snitsar agreed.
“I just don’t personally don’t understand the difference between someone carrying on campus and someone carrying half a mile away,” she told 41 Action News.
The University of Kansas requires all guns to be concealed, on a person at all time and secured in a holster among other rules. To see all, click here.
