Kansas State Legislative Information
March 26, 2009
From Senator Tim Huelskamp on SCR 1611 - Victory in the Senate and the House!
Great victory for the 2nd Amendment in Kansas today!!
By overwhelming margins, the Kansas Legislature has approved our constitutional amendment to protect our individual rights to gun ownership.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 1611 - co-sponsored by myself, Senator Mike Petersen and others - was just approved by the Kansas House. It will go to a vote of the citizens of Kansas in November 2010!
With this proposed constitutional amendment, our citizens will have the final say - shall we have an individual right to gun ownership in Kansas or shall the state collectively control and dictate if you can own or use a gun?
I an confident that the good citizens of Kansas love and cherish their 2nd amendment rights - just as we do - and will overwhelmingly approve this Amendment next year!
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March 26, 2009
http://www.kansasliberty.com/liberty-update-archive/2009/30mar/right-to-bear-arms-min-wage
Huelskamp: 'Our citizens will have the final say.
Huge majority in Legislature backs right-to-bear-arms amendment
The House passed a concurrent resolution Wednesday that would allow Kansans to vote in November 2010 on whether or not to amend the state Constitution to allow gun ownership for "any lawful purpose."
The House vote was 116-9.
Currently the Constitution reads that “the people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be tolerated, and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.”
The amendment would make it clear that “a person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and state, for lawful hunting and recreational use, and for any other lawful purpose."
The measure easily managed to gain the two-thirds constitutional majority that is required when passing concurrent resolutions in both chambers. The bill passed the Senate yesterday with a 39-1 vote.
Democratic Sen. David Haley, from Kansas City, was the only Senator to vote against the measure.
“By offering this proposed constitutional amendment, our citizens will have the final say – shall we have an individual right to gun ownership in Kansas, or shall the state control and dictate who may own or use a gun?” Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, said in his explanation of his support for the bill. “I am very hopeful the majority of Kansans will agree the power shall rest with the citizens, not with the government.”
Kansas Attorney General Steve Six also testified as a proponent of the legislation in the Senate Judiciary committee last week.
“SCR 1611 would clarify an individual’s right to bear arms under the Kansas Constitution,” Six said in his testimony.
“I support such an amendment because I support an individual’s right to possess a firearm under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of District of Columbia vs. Heller.”
- Holly Smith
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SCR 1611 was passed 39 to 1 yesterday in the Kansas State Senate.
March 25, 2009
Here is the actual transcript from the official journal.
SCR 1611, A PROPOSITION to amend section 4 of the bill of rights of the constitution of the state of Kansas, relating to the right to bear arms.
On roll call, the vote was: Yeas 39, Nays 1, Present and Passing 0, Absent or Not Voting 0.
Yeas: Abrams, Apple, Barnett, Brownlee, Bruce, Brungardt, Colyer, Donovan, Emler, Faust-Goudeau, Francisco, Hensley, Holland, Huelskamp, Kelly, Kelsey, Kultala, Lee, Lynn, Marshall, Masterson, McGinn, Morris, Ostmeyer, Owens, Petersen, Pilcher-Cook, Pyle, Reitz, Schmidt D, Schmidt V, Schodorf, Steineger, Taddiken, Teichman, Umbarger, Vratil, Wagle, Wysong.
Nays: Haley.
A two-thirds constitutional majority having voted in favor of the resolution SCR 1611 was adopted.
EXPLANATION OF VOTE
MR. PRESIDENT: I support SCR 1611. This constitutional amendment confirms that the right of individual Kansans to keep and bear arms is paramount and a guarantee of liberty. Our legislative intent is clear and is similar to the that of our founding fathers. In The Federalist Papers Number 29, Alexander Hamilton did not view the right to keep arms as being confined to active militia members but individuals. ‘‘Little more can reasonably be aimed at with the respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped’’
James Madison in Federalist No. 46 wrote: ‘‘Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition,’’
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March 24, 2009
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1611
<http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2010/2009_1611.pdf> , sponsored by State Senator Mike Petersen (R-28), successfully passed out of the Senate today by a vote of 39 to 1. SCR 1611 is now up for consideration by the full House of Representatives, which could be happen as early as today. If SCR 1611 passes in the House, it will then be placed on the 2010 General Election Ballot.
House Concurrent Resolution No. 5017
<http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2010/2009_5017.pdf> , is the House companion bill to SCR 1611, and is currently awaiting action in the House. These important Second Amendment resolutions are constitutional amendments that would change the wording of Section 4 of the Kansas Constitution to preserve and reflect an individual right, not a collective one.
A 1905 Kansas Supreme Court ruling stated that the original language of Section 4 of the Kansas Constitution, as written, is a “collective right” not an “individual right.” Both SCR 1611 and HCR 5017 would change that and preserve an individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
It is imperative that you contact your State Representative at once and respectfully urge them to support both SCR 1611 and HCR 5017. Also, please thank your State Senator today for supporting this important legislation. Contact information for your legislators can be found here <http://www.capwiz.com/nra/state/main/?state=KS&view=myofficials> .
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Kansas Right-to-Carry Reform Bill Scheduled for a Hearing Next Week!
Friday, February 27, 2009
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=4488
House Bill 2308 http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2010/2308.pdf , introduced by State Representative Melanie Meier (D-40), has passed the House successfully and has moved to the Senate where it was assigned to the Federal and State Affairs Committee.
This bill would make a non-resident member of the U.S. military who is stationed in Kansas eligible for a resident concealed carry permit. The bill is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, March 4.
Please contact your State Senator and respectfully encourage them to support this important legislation. Contact information can be found here http://www.capwiz.com/nra/state/main/?state=KS&view=myofficials .
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Kansas Liberty
February 19, 2009
ANALYSIS: In sorting out the conflicting claims, it was down to she-said, they-said. One side or the other was playing political games with state money. Kansas was the loser.
Everyone agrees the cash-flow crisis that broke over Kansas earlier this week came in the wake of several related events.
* The state really did run out of cash.
* The necessary certificate permitting additional internal borrowing either could not or would not be signed by legislative leaders.
* The Financial Council meeting scheduled to discuss the certificates was canceled.
* The governor, Kathleen Sebelius, issued a press release saying the state could not issue income tax refunds or pay state workers or fund a raft of social programs. She blamed this on the Legislature.
* The state's media ran with the no-tax-refund headline and provided almost no other useful context to the story for at least 12 hours, by which time the story had been catapulted, via the Drudge Report, into the national spotlight.
Full Article
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SCR 1609 - Kansas State Sovereignty Bill
SCR 1609, a Senate Concurrent Resolution by Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook, was introduced on February 11, 2009 and referred to the Judiciary Committee on February 12, 2009. This bill urges the congress and the President from exercising powers beyond those constitutionally delegated. You may read the full text of the bill at
http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2010/2009_1609.pdf
Good to see Kansas is exerting it's right under the 10th amendment! Call and write your Kansas legislators and ask them to support this bill.
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KANSAS HB 2049 - Hunters Education In Kansas Schools
HOUSE BILL No. 2049
By Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources
AN ACT concerning the hunter safety orientation programs in schools.
This bill will make it mandatory for Kansas public schools to offer Hunters Education as an elective course. It was introduced on January 21st and sent to the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. A hearing was originally scheduled for January 29th but it has been postponed to February 5th. The NRA brought this bill forward and it models legislation that was passed in West Virginia. It has been well received and it is expected to pass through the committee without objection and on to the House floor, and passed again without objection.
I will keep you all posted on it's progress. You may read the full text of this bill at http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2010/2049.pdf
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