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Gun laws in Kansas regulate the sale, possession, and use of
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
s and
ammunition
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
in the state of
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
in the United States.
Summary table
Kansas gun laws
Despite having relatively nonrestrictive firearms laws, Kansas remained one of the few states with no provision for the concealed carry of firearms until March 2006, when the
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
passed Senate Bill 418, "The Personal and Family Protection Act." This bill made Kansas the 47th state to permit concealed carry in some form and the 36th state with a "
shall issue
Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon (such as a handgun) in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or in close proximity. CCW is often practiced as a means of self-defense. Every ...
" policy. The bill was passed 30–10 in the state senate and 91–33 in the state house of representatives, gaining enough votes to override a veto from Governor
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...
, who had previously vetoed several other attempts to legalize concealed carry. Under the law, the Attorney General began granting permits to qualified applicants on January 1, 2007. Previously, Kansas had allowed only
open carry
In the United States, open carry refers to the practice of visibly carrying a firearm in public places, as distinguished from concealed carry, where firearms cannot be seen by the casual observer. To "carry" in this context indicates that the fir ...
of firearms, except where prohibited by local ordinance.
On April 21, 2008, Governor
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...
signed a bill allowing the sale and possession of
NFA weapons. The law took effect on July 1, 2008.
Senate Bill No. 46, Kansas Legislature
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On April 22, 2014, Governor Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...
signed HB 2578, the CLEO Shall Sign and Comprehensive Preemption legislation. These new laws went into effect on July 1, 2014. Effective on that date there will no longer be any local control of firearms. All current local firearms ordinances are null and void and all firearms laws are uniform statewide. The bill:
*Prohibits any city or county from expending funds derived from the proceeds of implementing, administering or operating a firearms buyback program.
*Preempts any and all local control of firearms and ammunition. No city or county or agent of such will be able to adopt any ordinance, resolution or regulation or take any administrative action governing the purchase, transfer, ownership, storage, carrying on one's person or transporting firearms or ammunition or any component or combination thereof.
*No city or county or agent of such will be able to adopt any ordinance, resolution or regulation relating to the sale of a firearm by an individual who holds a federal firearms license that is more restrictive than any ordinance or regulation relating to the sale of any other commercial good.
*Clarifies that no municipality can enact any ordinance, resolution, regulation or tax relating to the transportation, possession, carrying, sale, transfer, purchase, gift, devise, licensing, registration or use of a knife or knife making components. Nullifies all existing past ordinances and prohibits future ones.
*Prohibits the destruction of seized firearms once they are no longer needed as evidence. They may be traded with other departments and KBI, sold or traded to licensed firearms dealers, used for testing or comparison by the forensics laboratory or given to the Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism for use in Hunter Education programs. Payments for transfers will be credited to the asset seizure and forfeiture fund of the seizing agency.
*If a weapon is seized from an individual and they are not convicted or adjudicated of a crime that prevents firearms ownership, it shall be verified it is not stolen and upon verification returned to the individual from whom it was seized within 30 days.
*Cleans up the Knife Act from 2013 providing intended prohibition of enforcement of local ordinances passed prior to July 1, 2013 and addresses possession of knives by convicted felons. While daggers, dirks, dangerous knives, straight-edged razors, and stilettos are added back in to the law it is with an express intent and caveat that they are only prohibited for use with the intent to use it against another person unlawfully.
*Prohibits municipalities from requiring disclosure or making a record of concealed carry permits. Cities and counties are permitted to adopt ordinances, resolutions, or regulations relative to the personnel policies governing concealed carry of handguns by city or county employees, so long as in compliance with this law. The bill requires any such records created by a municipality before the effective date of the bill be destroyed by July 31, 2014.
*Requires that certification by a chief law enforcement officer (CLEO), when a sign off is required for the transfer of a firearm or other item regulated by the National Firearms Act ("NFA"), be provided within fifteen days as long as the applicant is not prohibited by law from receiving the firearm or other item.
See also
* Law of Kansas
References
{{Gun laws in the United States (by state)
Kansas law
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...