Each week during the 2023 Kansas legislative session, we will provide Shawnee Mission area lawmakers the opportunity to share their thoughts about what is happening in the state capitol.
Below is this week’s submission from Democratic Rep. Jo Ella Hoye of Kansas House District 17 in Lenexa and Shawnee.
Republican Rep. Chris Croft and Democratic Sen. Ethan Corson were also given a chance to submit columns this week.
The views expressed in each Capitol Update are solely those of the lawmaker.
Again. Three 9-year-olds and three educators were shot and killed at school. I’m angry. It’s anger driven by inaction and a relentless sorrow that despite millions working together to end gun violence, it’s still not enough. It’s anger because of insensitive decorum on the floor during a discussion about sensible gun laws. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in America. This is a crisis.
The Kansas legislature fast-tracked two gun lobby bills in the wake of this tragedy. The first is a mandate that school districts offering gun safety for Kindergarten through 5th grade must use a standardized curriculum based on the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program. Currently, there are no prohibitions on any gun safety programs for schools, including Eddie Eagle. The Kansas Constitution gives the State Board of Education the authority to approve curriculum so this bill is an overreach by the state legislature and an unfunded mandate for schools.
The onus is on adults to protect children from unsecured firearms. We must do more to keep kids safe from gun violence, but this bill forces any public school wanting to offer firearm safety to sole-source with the NRA – the very organization responsible for weak gun laws. The NRA supports armed adults in classrooms which is why they opposed multiple attempts to include a provision that the program “shall not allow for the use, demonstration or possession of a firearm or live ammunition as part of such program.”
The other bill would remove the $100 state fee for concealed carry licenses from state statute. This would require taxpayers to reimburse the Attorney General $1.2 million from the State General Fund for the Concealed Carry Licensing Unit. I have no problem making fees more affordable, but this is more appropriately done through an annual proviso so that we can adjust the fee based on the availability of funds. This bill is championed by the Kansas State Rifle Association. They say it will help low-income gun owners. Moments later we debated a bill to increase the age range of adults without dependents to receive food assistance.
Tennessee students marched on their Capitol to demand a response from lawmakers. The KSRA tweeted my name along with a video of the students and suggested that my motion to challenge a ruling was somehow militant. Don’t believe their hype. Though, I am willing to suspend certain House rules to try to pass laws to protect our kids; the false, hysterical messaging from the gun industry is more and more predictable and repulsive. They wonder why I don’t want them teaching my kid about guns.
My hope is that people see through it. More guns in the hands of untrained and potentially dangerous people are not making our communities safer. It’s not too soon to talk about our gun laws. It’s too late. Again.
Don’t give up. I believe in a future free from gun violence. We must keep going to bat for our kids again and again and again.
