Kentucky residents between the ages of 18 and 20 can now apply for a provisional concealed carry license after the General Assembly overrode Governor Andy Beshear's veto of House Bill 312 on April 14, sending the measure into law.
The Senate voted 28-9 and the House voted 81-18 to override, clearing the simple-majority threshold Kentucky requires. Beshear had vetoed the bill on April 3 alongside HB 78, which shields firearm sellers from certain civil liability, and legislators overrode both vetoes on the same day.
HB 312 splits Kentucky's concealed deadly weapons license into two tiers. The existing standard license remains unchanged for carriers 21 and older. The new provisional license is available to Kentuckians who are at least 18 but under 21, and according to Kentucky Concealed Carry, the provisional license carries the same underlying requirements as the standard permit — a background check, state-approved safety training, and demonstrated firearm proficiency.
One federal limitation remains in place. Under current federal law, a licensed dealer cannot sell a handgun to anyone under 21, so a Kentucky provisional licensee who wants to carry a pistol must acquire it through a private transfer or lawful gift. Long guns remain available at retail at 18, and the provisional license itself does not distinguish between handgun and long gun carry.
Republican leadership carried the bill in the House and framed it as a correction to what sponsors called a gap for legal adults — Kentuckians old enough to enlist, vote, and sign contracts but previously barred from carrying concealed in their home state. Beshear, a Democrat, centered his veto message on what he described as concerns about arming minors under 21, a characterization the bill's supporters publicly rejected.
Responding to the override, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms chairman Alan Gottlieb said his organization supports removing what he called age discrimination against legal adults in the Second Amendment context, as reported by Kentucky Concealed Carry.
Kentucky joins a small group of states that have extended state concealed carry licensing to 18-to-20 year olds, a trend that has accelerated alongside federal litigation over handgun sale age restrictions at the Fifth Circuit. Those federal cases do not directly affect HB 312, which governs state carry licensing rather than commercial firearm sales.
The Kentucky State Police is responsible for building out the provisional license application and issuance workflow. The agency has not yet announced a public start date for accepting applications.
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