Groups debate concealed weapons for KS teens

Activists from Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, told a Kansas House committee Wednesday there was no justification for a bill creating a special concealed-handgun license applicable to under-21 Kansans who felt the need to be secretly armed.

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January 28, 2021 - 9:42 AM

Angela Lee, who became a gun-violence activist with Moms Demand Action after her son was killed in 2017, urged a Kansas House committee to reject a bill allowing teenagers to carry concealed handguns in the state.

TOPEKA — Angela Lee’s son, Justice Mitchell, was fatally shot by another teenager June 26, 2017, in a botched robbery outside a Topeka fast-food restaurant.

“I’ve never in my life felt so lost,” she said. “Hundreds of children gathered and cried and prayed at our home and again at his gravesite, because we know gun violence affects the entire community. Eighteen-, 19- and 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at a rate nearly four times higher than adults 21 and older.”

Lee, wearing the red T-shirt of activists in Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, told a Kansas House committee Wednesday there was no justification for a bill creating a special concealed-handgun license applicable to under-21 Kansans who felt the need to be secretly armed. She said House Bill 2059’s extension of state law on concealed-weapon permits wasn’t rational because it would make it easier for people to keep deadly force within easy reach.

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