Should Courthouse Visitors Hold onto their Guns?

It’s not necessarily a matter of gun rights in Kansas, but there still is a little of that. Lawmakers are debating a plan to let people with carry and conceal permits take guns into certain Kansas courthouses. KWCH-TV’s exclusive Fact Finder 12 survey found 79 percent of Kansans are against the idea of bringing concealed weapons into courthouses, and 20 percent support the plan. The Reno County Courthouse was built in 1930, decades before X-Ray machines provided security in any courthouses. And after nearly a decade of trying to get an X-Ray machine in his courthouse, he may have succeeded. “I got kind of a call from heaven this morning when I got a call from the U-S Marshal,” said the sheriff. “We have been selected to get at least one, possibly two x-ray machines.” The X-Ray argument came to a head when, in the last three months, three weapons (a grenade and two loaded guns) made it into Reno County Courtrooms. At least, he knows of three. “How many times do we have guns come into the courthouse?” asked the sheriff. “We’ve been lucky. I can’t say anything other than that.” But many other Kansas courtrooms in other courthouses don’t have X-Ray machines. A bill before the Kansas Senate — it already passed the House — would allow people with conceal and carry permits to carry guns in buildings that do not have electronic detection equipment.

In Connecticut, bomb scares at courthouses are increasing in number. For example, traffic came to halt downtown for about an hour and a half early this week after police evacuated three New Haven courthouses because of a bomb threat. The threat came shortly before 4 p.m. Police with bomb-sniffing dogs entered the courthouses starting around 5 p.m. Yale, New Haven, and state police, as well as judicial and federal marshals, were also present at the scene.

Should courthouse visitor with active permits carry their weapons into the facilities. Email your thoughts to zaludreport@bnpmedia.com