By L&T Managing Editor Larry Phillips

In a Wednesday Associated Press article with the headline, “Kan. Board of Regents mulls concealed carry study,” a remark by Regent board member Edward “Ed” McKechnie made my jaw drop.

He was quoted as saying, “Just because the Legislature has done something wrong, I don’t know that I want to go along with that.”

He was referencing the new law passed by the Kansas Legislature prohibiting “many state and local government agencies from banning concealed guns on their premises unless they provide adequate security measures such as metal detectors or security guards.”

McKechnie, a former Kansas State Representative, serving from 1991-2001, should know the law passed by huge majorities in both the House and the Senate. Even many Democrats in both houses voted to pass the law.

Who would elect a Representative who doesn’t  – or won’t – capitulate to majority rule? Someone who refuses to acknowledge the Legislature represents the “people,” and they are not “wrong.”

He may think that, but if he had any class, he’d keep his mouth shut, especially considering his term on the Kansas Board of Regents expires next year. Does he think his juvenile justification for ignoring the law will endear himself to Gov. Sam Brownback?

By the way, he was appointed by Gov. Mark Parkinson in February 2010. That explains a lot to me.

This man needs to be sent packing – not only off the Regents’ board but as far away from Topeka as possible for the rest of his days. He should keep his horse manure tossing solely at his horse ranch near Arcadia.

Of course, his views are not shocking to some on the Board of Regents, they have agreed to “pursue” an in-depth study of the new law. Even after asking for the six-month waiver from the state.

“Some regents said a study would be helpful if the board decides to seek exemptions in specific areas … such as at athletic events or in classrooms or certain laboratories,” the AP article reported.

It also noted: Regent Robba Moran said that while she supports gun rights, she didn’t think it was wise to allow concealed carry at athletic events.

“At the sporting venue, you have tempers flaring and you have alcohol and that is different than a classroom,” Moran said.

There is no evidence anywhere that I can find that people who go through the training procedure of earning a concealed-carry permit – and background check by the KBI – just loses their temper at a sporting event and pulls a gun and shoots the person next to them.

That is so lame, it’s hard to believe an educated woman said it.

More phony excuses.

One unseen benefit of this new law is it is bringing a lot of the closet liberals out in the open – people who have been acting like they are conservatives because they live in Kansas (a nest of veritable right-wingers, as some would say).

Ironically, left-wing school boards are not in total control in Kansas, as I originally suspected. In an article posted July 8, by Arturo Garcia online at www.rawstory.com, he quotes a Kansas Legislator.

“State Sen. Forrest Knox (R), who advocated for the law, told the Register that only 300 of 3,000 counties and municipalities in Kansas had filed exemption requests with Attorney General Derek Schmidt.”

Only 10 percent of the counties and cities in Kansas, and we have three government entities here that jumped right on the waiver-wagon: The City of Liberal, Seward County and Seward County Community College.

That still makes me shake my head, but hopefully, this nonsense won’t continue after the first of the year, and these entities will allow law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, their children and their friends and neighbors.

Why does the Left want all of us to be totally defenseless against the maniacs of this world?

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you would like to let Regent McKechnie know your thoughts about his disdain for democratic rule, contact him at: https://www.kansasregents.org/form.cfm?formID=6.