On Monday, Republican Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin signed Senate Bill 150 into law. It eliminates the need for getting a permit, receiving safety training, or submitting to a background check before carrying a concealed weapon.
Senate Bill 150 was backed by the National Rifle Association but opposed by groups such as Louisville Metro Police and the Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police.
In the face of growing demands that the nation's gun laws be revamped to better protect public safety, after decades of allowing any idiot to purchase a gun and in the face of ever-escalating mass murders committed by gun hoarders and domestic terrorists, Republicans still insist on toeing the National Rifle Association line. Even when police groups are against laws that weaken gun safety measures, and even when polls show such laws to be widely unpopular. It's not clear why; the NRA is a much-weakened entity these days, currently under investigation for potentially illegal campaign contributions and for a cozy relationship with an individual now identified as a Russian agent.
Kentucky already allows its citizens to openly wander the streets with deadly weapons; this new bill extends the privilege to those that would tuck their weapons underneath their coats or into backpacks, or otherwise disguise them in preparation for at some point needing to murder someone. You can understand, then, why Kentucky police organizations are ticked off.
Not that it matters. When the NRA wants something, the "conservative" thing to do is grant it whatever it wants, whenever it wants. It is absolutely certain that allowing Kentuckians to pop loaded guns into waistbands, jackets, bags, or purses without so much as requiring a class confirming they know how to switch the safety on will result in additional deaths in the state. It is certain; the experiment has been tried time and time again. Those deaths will be considered worthy sacrifices towards the "freedom" of not having to take a class or submit to a criminal background check. Many victims will be children, and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin does not give a damn.