A JOHNSON COUNTY Republican state representative, Stephanie Clayton, introduced new legislation Tuesday that would allow state institutions of higher learning to keep concealed carry handguns off their campuses. Kansas law currently provides state colleges and universities with an exemption from the 2013 Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act, which allows people to carry concealed handguns into buildings that lack security guards or metal detectors, but that exemption expires in July. In an interview with the Kansas City Star, Gov. Sam Brownback said he would remain open to new legislation, although he said his Second Amendment views have not changed.
PRESIDENT Barack Obama commuted most of Chelsea Manning’s remaining prison sentence Tuesday, the New York Times reported. In 2013, Manning was convicted of leaking hundreds of thousands of military documents to WikiLeaks. Manning, currently jailed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, will be released in May of this year, well shy of the original 35-year sentence that would have ended in 2045. Obama’s commutation of Manning’s sentence comes as similar calls have been made for Obama to grant clemency to Edward Snowden, the fugitive U.S. contractor who disclosed classified American intelligence, before Obama’s term expires Friday.
KANSAS REP. John Whitmore said he plans to propose legislation that would prohibit Kansas students from using public school bathrooms that do not correspond with their gender at birth, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. Although the bill would not pertain to institutions of higher learning and would have no specific manner of enforcement, critics of the bill have said it promotes “hate and bigotry.”
THE MANHATTAN-OGDEN School Board will announce the members of its mascot committee at its regular Wednesday night meeting, according to the Manhattan Mercury. The committee, made up of school administrators, teachers, students and members of the public, will address issues regarding the school district’s usage of an Indian mascot and Native American imagery, which the board voted to retain at the same December meeting when it announced the creation of the committee.
