For thirty years, Kentucky has been a “shall issue” state when it comes to concealed carry licenses, and since 2019 permitless carry has also been allowed for those who can legally possess a firearm… or at least most of them.
Current state law prohibits adults under the age of 21 from carrying a concealed firearm, with or without a valid carry permit.
The law could soon change, though, and for the better. On Friday the state Senate gave its stamp of approval to HB 312, which would create a new provisional carry license for 18-to-20-year olds.
🚨The Senate just passed HB 312, securing a BIG victory for our constitutional rights by expanding concealed carry to law-abiding Kentuckians aged 18-20!
Citizens who are 18, 19, and 20 years old are legally recognized as full adults. They can vote in the elections that shape… pic.twitter.com/hSTFlClEZ3
— Savannah Maddox (@SavannahLMaddox) March 20, 2026
Adults under the age of 21 will still need a permit to carry, unlike their older counterparts. But as Rep. Maddox notes, this brings Kentucky in line with 25 other states that recognize the obvious truth that the right to keep and bear arms is fully vested at the age of adulthood, and not at age 21.
Citizens who are 18, 19, and 20 years old are legally recognized as full adults. They can vote in the elections that shape our future, sign binding contracts, join the military, get deployed overseas—and even give their lives for our country. They can start families, launch businesses, and they can own and possess firearms.
Yet under current law, these adults are prohibited from carrying that same firearm concealed for self-defense. This creates a dangerous inconsistency: we recognize their adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it in every other area, but we deny them the ability to protect themselves and their loved ones when they step outside their homes.
Ideally, Kentuckians over the age of 18 wouldn’t need a conditional carry permit either, but this is one area where progress has been incremental. Less than half of the 29 permitless carry states include adults under the age of 21 in their statutes, though Wyoming has also passed a bill this session that will lower the age to 18 starting on July 1.
The Supreme Court has silent about when Americans are fully vested with their Second Amendment rights, but the justices have been hanging on to five different cases that directly deal with that issue, including challenges to the ban on gun sales to adults under 21 in Florida, and bans on carrying in West Virginia. We don’t know for sure what will happen with these lawsuits, but the best guess is that SCOTUS will grant cert, vacate the lower court decisions, and remand the cases back to those courts for a do-over in light of what the justices have to say in both Wolford v. Lopez and U.S. v. Hemani.
Of course, there’s nothing stopping states from lowering the age on their own, as Kentucky lawmakers have done. Gov. Andy Beshear might very well veto the bill (in fact, with the Democrat looking at a presidential run in 2028 I’d say it’s almost certain that he’ll shoot down the concealed carry expansion), but HB 312 passed the House 73-17 and the Senate 29-7, so Republicans should be able to easily override the governor if necessary.
It’s great to see Kentucky take a big step forward in recognizing that the right to keep and bear arms shouldn’t be limited to those 21 and older, and I hope that in a session or two lawmakers will be ready to include those 18 and older in the state’s permitless carry law as well.
Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.
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