Bill lowering the age to carry a concealed weapon in Kentucky moves forward
The Kentucky Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill on Thursday afternoon, which would lower the age from 21 to 18.
2 charged for allegedly taking photo with gun at Kentucky high school
'At 18 years old, a Kentuckian is legally an adult. They can vote, sign contracts, marry, be tried as an adult in court, and most importantly, serve in the United States military,' said Sen. Aaron Reed, R-Shelbyville, who introduced SB 75. 'We trust them to carry a rifle on the battlefield to defend our freedoms, yet we deny them the right to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense at home. This is an unjust double standard that must be corrected.'
Federal law sets the concealed carry age at 18, along with 18 other states.
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Bill lowering the age to carry a concealed weapon in Kentucky moves forward
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Opponents of the bill argued that adults from 18 to 20 years of age should be required to go through gun safety training before being allowed to carry one without a permit.
The bill still needs full approval from the Kentucky Senate before it can move to the House of Representatives for debate.
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Los Angeles Times
25 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
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But after Texas moved toward approving its own maps this week that could give the GOP five more House seats, Democrats stripped the so-called 'trigger' language from the amendment — meaning that if voters approve the measure, the new lines would take effect no matter what. The ballot measure language, which asks California voters to override the power of the independent redistricting commission, was approved by most Democrats in the Assembly and the Senate, where they hold supermajorities. California lawmakers have the power to place constitutional amendments on the statewide ballot without the approval of the governor. Newsom, however, is expected later Thursday to sign two separate bills that fund the special election and spell out the lines for the new congressional districts. Democrats' rush to the ballot marks a sudden departure from California's 15-year commitment to independent redistricting, often held up as the country's gold standard. The state's voters stripped lawmakers of the power to draw lines during the Great Recession and handed that partisan power to a panel of independent citizens whose names are drawn in a lottery. The change, Democrats said, was forced by an extraordinary change in circumstances: After decades of the United States redrawing congressional lines once a decade, President Trump and his political team have leaned on Republican-led states to redraw their district lines before the 2026 midterm elections to help Republicans retain control of the House. 'His playbook is a simple one: Bully, threaten, fight, then rig the rules to hang onto power,' said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. 'We are here today because California will not be a bystander to that power grab. We are not intimidated, and we are acting openly, lawfully, with purpose and resolve, to defend our state and to defend our democracy.' 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'Or do we fight back and provide some chance for our Californians to see themselves in this democracy?' Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-Santee) said the effort is 'a corrupt redistricting scheme to rig California's elections' that violates the 'letter and the spirit of the California constitution.' 'Democrats are rushing this through under the guise of urgency,' Jones said. 'There is no emergency that justifies this abuse of process.' Three Assembly Democrats did not vote in favor of the constitutional amendment. Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano), who is running for Congress against Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) in the San Joaquin Valley, voted no. Progressive Caucus chair Alex Lee (D-San Jose), and Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), did not vote. Democrats will face an unusual messaging challenge with the November ballot measure, said Matt Lesenyie, an assistant professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach. The opponents of mid-decade redistricting are stressing that the measure would 'disadvantage voters,' he said, which is 'wording that Democrats have primed Democrats on, for now two administrations, that democracy is being killed with a thousand cuts.' 'It's a weird, sort of up-is-down moment,' Lesenyie said. Trump's political team began pressuring Abbott and Texas Republicans in early June to redraw the state's 38 congressional districts in the middle of the decade — which is very uncommon — to give Republicans a better shot at keeping the House in 2026. 'We are entitled to five more seats,' Trump later told CNBC. Some Texas Republicans feared that mid-decade redistricting could imperil their own chances of reelection. But within a month of the White House floating the idea, Abbott added the new congressional lines, which would stack the deck against as many as five Texas Democrats in Congress, to the Legislature's special session in July. 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The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
Doggett won't seek reelection if new Texas maps pass legal muster
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Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Texas is approving new maps for midterms. California is not far behind
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