A bill filed to deal with economic development became a vehicle for a Second Amendment gun issue during a committee hearing this morning.

Dry ridge, republican savannah Maddox is the sponsor of House Bill 542 that now removes the ability of a post-secondary education institution to restrict gun owners ability to carry firearms on campus.

Current law lets universities decide where their firearms can be carried on campus and not in Kentucky right now.

Allow for what's often called campus carry art.

Tom or the National Rifle Association testified that claims of increased crime and heightened risk to public safety are unfounded when it comes to campus carry that begins tonight's legislative update.

This bill seeks to empower men and women to protect themselves from violent attacks while eliminating a proven weak point for deranged individuals.

Seeking to do harm.

Threats to personal safety don't disappear once you step on campus.

Denying women their constitutional rights of self-protection empowers criminals and leaves women vulnerable to criminal attack.

Criminals do not abide by gun free zones and gun free zones.

Make law abiding citizens sitting ducks for criminals.

We all remember Virginia Tech and the fact that 32 people lost their lives.

23 were injured.

Just recently, Michigan State, three killed, Umpqua Community College, nine killed.

Northern Illinois University.

Five killed.

Oikos University, seven Santa monica College.

Five Time and again, gun free zones do not work.

And every one of these tragedies occurred in a gun free zone.

The general counsel for the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and a campus police chief registered their concerns with the bill.

No university in Kentucky has voiced support for the bill and higher ed.

Officials say Kentucky colleges want the flexibility they have now in current law to make their campuses gun free.

All campus chiefs of police are united against the bill, as were the Democrats present on the committee today.

We're concerned about the fact that people are trained, are not having enough training, knowing how to store these weapons and things like that.

If we have an active shooter situation, understanding who the bad guy is when responding.

I am not opposed to guns, but what I am opposed to is the General Assembly unwillingness to really pass any sort of meaningful legislation that will actually protect people and that includes all the things we've been hearing for quite some time.

Mental health.

Registering guns.

Making sure that people actually have training.

And the ability to store their weapons safely.

These are all what I would call very common sense, low hanging fruit, best practices that we are continuing to avoid.

So I'm a no representative.

The measure advance from the committee 16 to 3.

All three no votes were from Democrats.

A dozen other states have similar laws.

Last week, West Virginia's governor signed a bill allowing people with concealed carry permits to take firearms onto public college and university campuses.