Kansas Concealed Carry Permit Holders Exempt from Redundant Background Check When Purchasing a Firearm

On April 8, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) issued a letter to all Kansas Federal Firearm Licensed (FFL) dealers informing them that a valid Kansas concealed carry permit may be used as an alternative to an inquiry of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for the purchase or transfer of a firearm.

All individuals who apply for or renew a concealed carry permit must undergo a NICS inquiry.  Exempting valid concealed carry permit holders will alleviate the redundancy of having to go through NICS for every firearm purchase or transfer from a gun dealer.  This saves dealers and their customers time and decreases the administrative costs of NICS itself. To view the official letter from the BATFE click here.

This victory is the direct result of last session’s NRA-backed Senate Bill 306 being enacted.  This monumental reform made a number of significant changes to Kansas’ right-to-carry laws, to not only streamline the concealed carry process, but to meet the federal requirements under U.S.C. § 922(t)(3) and 27 C.F.R. § 478.102(d), which now allow concealed carry permit holders to be exempt from a redundant NICS background check.  After the enactment of this legislation, the state legislature sent a letter to BATFE informing them of these changes and requesting a formal review which brought about this recent decision. 

Thank you to all those who contacted their legislators and the Governor during the process last year that led to this policy victory.