Kansas Prisons & Prison Guards

Factual Questions
1
      • I just heard about a former co-worker who moved to southern Kansas (I don’t know where exactly) and claimed to have gotten a job as a prison guard (I do not know exactly where, but I know the aproximate area). As I heard it, you had to have certification to carry a firearm, and prison guards had to be able to carry firearms, , and we are certain that this person has never had any security training. Is this possible? Could a non-trained person get one of these jobs or not? He said he had passed some written test. And further, he has a history of psychiatric problems!
        -Also, unrelated: Yesterday, I had to install IE5, and I positively hate the way the backspace key sends the F*$%(#& browser back. Can I shut this feature off? - MC
2

What kind of firearms are we talking about? I don’t know of any state that requires a license to carry a rifle or shotgun.

I believe there are several states where you can carry handguns openly without any license or permit.

There is at least one state (Vermont) where you can carry a concealed handgun without a permit.

Many states (about half, I think) allow concealed carry with a permit that is quite easy to get. These are mostly rural states. It can involve simply asking for a permit (and paying a fee), or may require a few hours of classroom instruction and/or a few hours of firing-range instruction. Most of these states will not give such a permit to a person with serious psychological problems or criminal histories.

The rest of the states either don’t allow concealed handguns, or require that you prove a need before they will give you a permit. Most of the urbanized states fall in this category.

Somebody on the SDMB posted a link to a site that described these laws by state, but I can’t find it now.

some related threads:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=30260

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=15694

3

I’m sure “YMMV” is the standard. Each state has it’s process. Here in MI, the guards go through several weeks of training (right here in Lansing!!! - I used to live about 3 blocks away from it) before they’re on the job at all. then, there’s more time in tandem with other CO’s etc.
re: gun - at least in OUR state prisons, only few of the folks carry weapons.

re: history of mental illness - that’s a phrase that can cover anything from acute schizophrenia to having counseling for 3 weeks after your mother died. Depends on the illness, the severity, and the outcome.

4

It was MinkMan in yet another thread on the subject, Open Carry Laws. The summary of state laws is here but it hasn’t been updated since 1995. If I’m reading the chart right, it was legal in Kansas then to own a handgun and carry it openly without any permit. Carrying a concealed handgun was illegal (no permits issued). I’m not sure if that would apply to prison guards, etc.

5

Kansas is an “open carry” State. This means that in theory, one can openly carry any legal firearm in public, loaded or unloaded, handgun or rifle.

However - what makes “open carry” a legal myth is the fact that every individual county, city, town, water district, etc. can pass laws which supercede this (known as “home rule”). Thus, if you live in an area like Kansas City, which is mostly a large collection of suburbs pressed together on the Kansas side, you may or may not be able to do this depending on which block you are on. You don’t know unless you happen to be a lawyer, and carry with you all of the current statutes for each legal authority that you visit.

This is what infuriated Kansans over Governor Grave’s refusal to sign a concealed carry bill into law several years ago. He wrote in his veto response that “since Kansas had open carry, there was no need for a redundant law” - which was an out-and-out lie. The law was not redundant, as the concealed carry bill would not have been subject to the crippling “home rule” clause.

It is true that Kansas does have permits per se for concealed carry, but that does not prohibit completely concealed carry. Kansas has very strict laws against concealed carry, and the only private citizens that are allowed to carry concealed weapons are (note - this is from my old FFL book, but I don’t think there have been any changes at all in the last 10 years):

  1. Persons on their own property. (although, the police will still arrest you then reluctantly release you later on, even though the law is extremely clear about this)

  2. Hunters and fishermen holding a valid license to hunt and fish while in the process of hunting and fishing.

  3. Security agents of the railroads.

  4. Private detectives holding a valid license for the State of Kansas (and IIRC, there were less than a dozen or so detectives in the whole State which qualified and had this license).

IIRC, prison guards may not carry concealed weapons unless they are considered to be “law enforcement personnnel”. Which they might not be.

You want to know something that is scary? The regulations in Kansas for becoming a police officer are extremely loose, and nearly every small town, township, or cluster of 5 houses can have a certified, official police officer. These people need very little training, no experience, and sometimes do not even have a background check done at all - and I know this for a fact, knowing a couple very-small town cops here. And these people can now carry concealed weapons, or even buy and carry fully automatic weapons.