Concealed carry goes to governor's desk

Topeka Capital Journal ^ | 04-02-2004 | Chris Moon

[heckler]

A bill that would allow Kansans to carry concealed firearms went to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who has said she won't sign the bill in its current form.

The House voted 78-46 on Thursday to approve changes made to the concealed carry bill by the Senate. One of those would allow Kansans to carry concealed guns in the Statehouse, which was prohibited in the House version of the bill.

Rep. Dan Williams, R-Olathe, said existing law already prohibits weapons in the Statehouse, making the Senate amendment useless. But others said there wasn't anything to fear if legislators pack heat.

Rep. Candy Ruff, D-Leavenworth, noted Texas law allows legislators there to carry guns in the capitol. And to date, she said, Texas lawmakers haven't engaged in any gunplay during debate.

"I think those of us in the Kansas House can trust one another," said Ruff, one of the bill's authors.

But opponents of the bill criticized provisions that would allow people with concealed carry permits from other states -- which may have more permissive gun laws -- to carry weapons in Kansas. They also said the bill makes it too difficult for Kansans to have their permits revoked if they violate the concealed carry law. Kansas is one of just four states that doesn't allow some form of concealed carry.

But Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has said several times she favors concealed carry only for retired law enforcement officers and is likely to veto the measure.

The House has failed twice to obtain the two-thirds support, or 84 votes, that is needed to override a veto by the governor. The Senate did get two-thirds support, on a 28-12 vote, but some of those 'yes' votes are expected to disappear after the governor's veto.

The measure allows Kansans ages 21 and older to obtain concealed carry permits issued by the Kansas attorney general's office. Local sheriff's offices would accept applications and collect a $150 fee, most of which would go to the attorney general's office for processing.

The bill contains a number of places where concealed weapons would be barred, including schools and courthouses. Permits wouldn't be granted to residents with felony convictions or who have histories of mental illness or drug abuse, among other restrictions.

Proponents say the legislation would provide self-protection for permit holders and would help reduce crime, but opponents contend the bill will trigger a rise in crime and accidental shootings by providing a mechanism for putting more guns in Kansans' hands.

[heckler]

The bill is now on the governors desk. Heres hoping she just lets it become law.

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[heckler]

Please everyone, call everyone you know in Kansas and have them call the governor office at 1-877-579-6757, urge her not to veto this bill. If you live in a bordering state that has CCW call yourself. You want to be able to cross Kansas with the same protection you carry in your state.

[Crazieman]

I'll make my call, but I'm very doubtful Sebelius will let this through.

[Ladysmith]

If or when she vetoes it, are your chances for an override pretty good? We missed ours in Wisconsin by one stinkin' vote. Here's hoping you'll have the law soon.

[heckler]

There werent enough votes in the House to override a veto, plus many of the Senate votes in favor were from Democrats who probably would not vote to override the veto.(the governess is a Democrat).

[Crazieman]

I keep hearing Sebelius has traits of Hillary-like ruthlessness

[heckler]

There's a lot of hopefull thinking that since she hasn't said recently that she would veto it that she'll just let it become law without her signature.

[goldstategop]

She'll veto it. The real job of you Kansans is to get a pro-CCW law passed and her veto should help put her out of a job. A new Govenor who is CCW friendly will sign it into law.

[heckler]

She's a tough looking lady and I dont doubt she's got a ruthless streak in her, but "Hillary-like"?..I shudder to think..

[heckler]

She's not up for re-election for another 4 years I think. What we really need to do is knock out some of the Rinos we've got. I swear, theres an organized effort to have Dems run as Republicans in order to weaken the conservative majority in Kansas. Its unbelievable how many Pro-abortion Republicans we have in the Topeka-Lawrence-Kansas City area.

[Crazieman]

I dread going up to northeast Kansas and opening my mouth.

[Puppage]

but opponents contend the bill will trigger a rise in crime and accidental shootings by providing a mechanism for putting more guns in Kansans' hands

Same, tired old crap they said in Florida in 1986 & every state that has given it's citizens the right to carry since.

[Prairie Pubbie]

Sebelius is up for re-election in 2006. I hope they're grooming Phil Kline, KS Attorney General, to run against her! The KS House does not have enough votes to override the veto, and there are several RINO Senators who voted for the bill originally only because they knew that she would veto it. That way they can pretend that they support concealed carry. We'll be watching the vote closely when it comes time to override the veto. Several of these same RINO Senators effectively killed a recent Marriage Amendment to the KS Constitution.

[heckler]

If she does veto I dont see them even having an override vote do you? Not nearly enough votes in the House.

[Prairie Pubbie]

I think that the pro-concealed carry folks will do whatever they can to push for a veto-override vote so that they can get the others on record. I need to check what the exact procedure is to get it back to the floor. I'm sure Phil Journey will be able to get it back to the floor of the Senate. The Eagle said today that he had used a little-known procedure to force another bill out of committee onto the floor. It said that under Senate rules, 24 of the 40 members are needed to pull a bill out of committee. Perhaps there is a similar procedure to force a vote in the House. The question is where does the bill go once it's been vetoed (which committee?).

[sergiod]

opponents contend the bill will trigger a rise in crime and accidental shootings by providing a mechanism for putting more guns in Kansans' hands.

Just goes to show that left-wing morons aren't interested in actual facts that might contradict their preconceived notions. Idiots.

[Shooter 2.5]

Why are you blaming Republicans if the dems stopped a veto proof vote in the House?

Here's the list of the vote. See if you can compare the anti-gun dems to the Republicans.

On roll call, the vote was: Yeas 78; Nays 43; Present but not voting: 0; Absent or not voting: 4.

Yeas: Aurand, Ballou, Beggs, Bethell, Brunk, Burgess, Burroughs, Campbell, Carter, Compton, Dahl, DeCastro, Decker, Edmonds, Faber, Feuerborn, Freeborn, Gatewood, Goering, Goico, Gordon, Grant, Hayzlett, Henry, Horst, Howell, Huebert, Humerickhouse, Hutchins, Huy, D. Johnson, E. Johnson, Kauffman, Klein, Landwehr, Lane, Light, M. Long, Long-Mast, Loyd, Mason, Mays, McCreary, McKinney, McLeland, Merrick, F. Miller, J. Miller, Minor, Jim Morrison, Judy Morrison, Myers, Neufeld, Novascone, O’Neal, Osborne, Ostmeyer, Pauls, Powell, Powers, Ruff, Schwab, Schwartz, B. Sharp, Shultz, Siegfreid, Sloan, Svaty, Swenson, Tafanelli, Thimesch, Toelkes, Vickrey, Ward, Wilk, D. Williams, J. Williams, Wilson.

Nays: Ballard, Boyer, Carlin, Cox, Craft, Crow, Davis, Dillmore, Dreher, Faust-Goudeau, Flaharty, Flora, Gilbert, Henderson, Hill, Holland, Huff, Huntington, Jack, Kassebaum, Kirk, Krehbiel, Kuether, Larkin, Loganbill, Neighbor, Newton, O’Malley, Owens, Patterson, Phelps, Reardon, Rehorn, Reitz, Scoggins-Waite, S. Sharp, Showalter, Shriver, Storm, Thull, Winn, Yoder, Yonally.

Present but not voting: None.


The citizens of Kansas better start voting straight Republican if you want this Law.

[Prairie Pubbie]

Hey...I'm a conservative GOP precinct person! I'm VERY pro-Republican...that is, conservative Republican. The fact is that our Statehouse has a growing presence of "moderate" Republicans who regularly join with the Dems to become a majority to pass tax hikes, add language to marriage amendments that kill the resolution, and who will, IMO, not vote correctly to override the Governor's veto of the concealed carry bill. The Democrats don't have a majority in our Statehouse, so some Republicans, obviously, are voting the WRONG way. I'm not blaming TRUE Republicans. I'm just a little testy because my State Senator is one of the WORST RINOs up there! If you have good, conservative Republican representation in Topeka count your blessings. But, sadly, the moderates now have control (a majority) of the GOP party apparatus in Kansas.

[Shooter 2.5]

If you give me a count on the Republican and the dems who voted in the House, I can bet the dems were almost 100% anti-gun and the Republicans only had a few vote against us.

Don't blame the Republicans. Blame the anti-gun party.