In this file photo from June 2015, Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, right, discusses tax issues on the floor of the Kansas Senate.

As the 2017 legislative session got underway Monday at the Statehouse, everyone’s attention is focused on the state’s looming budget hole and the inevitable debates over tax policy and school funding. But waiting in the wings are a number of other issues, including one of particular interest in Lawrence and other university towns: concealed handguns on campus.

On July 1, a new law is scheduled to take effect that will require colleges and universities, including the University of Kansas, to allow anyone who is eligible to carry concealed weapons to do so on campus, and in any building on campus, unless the school provides adequate security to ensure that nobody can bring a weapon into the building.

The law also applies to other public buildings, including City Hall and the old County Courthouse, as well as publicly owned hospitals like Lawrence Memorial Hospital and KU Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.

Some area lawmakers, including Sen. Marci Francisco, of Lawrence, are hoping to prevent that law from taking effect, either by delaying its implementation or repealing the statute entirely. And with a new, more moderate Legislature in place, they think there’s a chance to do that this year.

Gun debates at the Statehouse, however, have a particular tone to them that often makes it politically difficult to oppose expansive gun rights because for many years the debates have been cast in an “us-vs.-them” context.

The people who support gun rights, and particularly the right to carry concealed firearms, portray themselves as the courageous ones, the ones not afraid to stand up to would-be attackers and defend themselves with equal or greater force. Those who oppose concealed carry, by contrast, are portrayed as the ones fearful of living in a heavily armed society.

Francisco, however, appears to be trying to reverse that mentality. Speaking Friday morning at a pre-session breakfast sponsored by the Lawrence chamber of commerce, Francisco tried to cast the issue in an entirely different context. Here’s what she said:

“I would also be very interested in
delaying the implementation of the gun
requirements, particularly to give us
chances to make sure that all those
people who are fearful of entering
public spaces without a gun have
alternatives, so that everyone who has
a public library can just order their
books from the library and have them
sent to their home, and the university
can have a lot of online classes, and
people who are fearful don’t have to
go to public buildings and the rest of
us who are not fearful can go without
worrying about whether or not other
people have a gun.”

In short, she’s saying the people who feel a need to carry guns are the fearful ones among us, and all the others are the ones who are comfortable and self-confident.

“That’s kind of a role reversal,” said Rep. John Barker, R-Abilene, after hearing the quote. Barker is the new chairman of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, which would hear proposals for new gun legislation. He’s also a strong supporter of gun rights.

“I’ve not heard that argument before,” he said with a characteristic laugh, adding that he doesn’t think it’s one likely to win over hearts and minds in the Capitol.

“I don’t know if she’s tested that or not, or if it’s been used in other states, but I’m not sure it’s one that’s going to hold much water in Kansas.”

Barker, an attorney and former magistrate judge, said he is willing to hold hearings and debate any gun legislation that is proposed, although he would not guarantee such a bill would make it out of committee to the floor of the House.

But he also said he has been approached by only one group seeking to scale back or delay the new gun law, public hospitals. He has not heard from universities, community colleges or cities or counties, he said.

“Those are the only ones that have approached me,” he said. “Not the private hospitals because they are ready.”