Kentucky lawmakers have approved a bill that allows lawyers to carry guns in court, according to a report in the ABA Journal.
According to the report, the bill provides that any lawyer licensed to practice law in Kentucky “may carry a concealed weapon at all locations, if the attorney holds a licence to carry a concealed weapon under law”.
The ABA Journal (the publication of the American Bar Association) says that the wording was attached as an amendment to an unrelated bill, before passing through the Kentucky House of Representatives and the Kentucky Senate without debate.
Prosecutors and judges are already allowed to carry guns in court in the state.
Governor to review bill
State Senator Johnnie Turner, a Republican, had added the amendment, after a previous measure with additional safeguards failed to pass the committee stage.
That bill allowed lawyers to bring concealed weapons into the courthouse if they filed a notice of intent with the sheriff, and showed their ‘concealed carry permit’ to the bailiff when entering the courtroom.
Turner told the Louisville Courier Journal that lawyers should have the same ability to protect themselves as prosecutors and judges.
A spokesperson for Kentucky’s Democratic governor Andy Beshear told local radio that the governor would review the measure after it reached his desk.
ABA policy
A group of judges, lawyers, lawmakers and law-enforcement personnel told a press conference on Monday that they opposed the measure.
Jefferson County Sheriff John Aubrey said that he could envision a situation in which a client could overpower a lawyer, and take his or her weapon.
An ABA policy, passed in 2019, urged federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal courts and legislatures to develop policies and protocols as to who may carry firearms in courthouses, courtrooms, and judicial centres.
It specified that “only those persons necessary to ensure security, including approved safety officers, judges, and court personnel” should be allowed to have weapons in courthouses, courtrooms, and judicial centres – and that training should be a requirement for those permitted to carry firearms.