KS:Breaking: Governor Brownback will sign Constitutional Carry

Today, April 2, 2015, Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas will sign SB 45, also known as the constitutional carry bill, into law.  The law will go into effect upon publication in the Kansas Register.  The bill restores second amendment rights in Kansas close to what they were when the Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791.

The Kansas House Committee on Federal and State affairs passed SB 45, the constitutional carry bill on the 18th of March, 2015.

The bill was supported by the Kansas State Rifle Association, The National Rifle Association, and The National Association for Gun Rights.  Opposition to the bill came from The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Kansas Grandmothers Against Gun Violence, and the City of Overland Park.  Private citizens testified on both sides.   The NRA had this to say about the bill:

This legislation gives Kansans the freedom to choose the best method of carrying for them, based on their attire, gender and/or physical attributes.   However, this legislation would also keep in place the current permitting system so that people who obtain a permit could still enjoy the reciprocity agreements that Kansas has with other states and their NICS exemption when purchasing a new firearm.  

From cjonline.com:

Gov. Sam Brownback pledged to sign legislation Thursday allowing Kansas adults to carry concealed firearms without first obtaining a license or undergoing weapon training.

Kansas is leading the way in legislation to remove infringements on the second amendment that have been added over the last hundred years.  There is an appropriate historical balance here, as it was Kansas that created and promoted the theory of the second amendment as a "collective right", out of thin air, in a Kansas Supreme Court decision in 1905.   Kansas was in the forefront of the "progressive" movement then, which sought to increase government power.  Now it is in the forefront of progress to restore constitutional restraints.

This bill is one of several constitutional carry bills moving in state legislatures around the country.

A similar bill was vetoed by  Governor Tomblin (D) of West Virginia on 20 March.  It passed with large veto proof margin in both houses.   The Governor vetoed it after the legislature had adjourned. 

Governor Bullock (D) of Montana vetoed constitutional carry, HB 298, on Friday the 27th of March.  He did not give a good reason for the veto; he simply applied the "we require a permit for everything else" excuse.  Perhaps we need to rethink this excessive requirement for permission from the state before we engage in our daily lives.  Five states have constitutional carry, and there is no evidence that it causes any problems.

Mississippi appears ready to pass a bill that approaches constitutional carry, but does not quite go all the way.   It removes legal restrictions on carrying a concealed weapon , but only in a "fully enclosed case".   From the Mississippi bill,  SB 2394:

(24)  No license shall be required under this section for a loaded or unloaded pistol or revolver carried in a purse, handbag, satchel, other similar bag or briefcase or fully enclosed case.

Legislation in Maine is moving forward; sponsors of the bill are already more than a majority in both houses.

Kansas becomes the fifth state to restore constitutional carry, making six states in all.  Vermont has had constitutional carry for its entire history.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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