Amendment to Kansas Constitution introduced to protect Second Amendment rights

Last week, Rep. Rebecca Schmoe (R-Franklin County) introduced an amendment to the Kansas Constitution to help secure self-defense rights for Kansans.

“We are running a constitutional amendment this session regarding the clarification of language in section four,” Rep. Schmoe said on the House floor last Wednesday. “Specifically, addressing the possession and use of ammunitions, firearms accessories, and firearms components. This right shall not be infringed, and any restriction to this right shall be subject to the strict scrutiny standard.”

In order for this constitutional amendment to go through it first has to be passed by a two-thirds vote from both chambers of the Legislature (84 in the House, 27 in the Senate). If the Legislature votes to pass it, the amendment then goes directly onto the ballot for Kansans to vote on, bypassing the Governor. As of this writing, the amendment has 72 co-sponsors.

“The addition of this clarifying language to the Kansas Constitution does not necessarily expand gun rights, because under both the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and our own Section 4 we already have these rights,” Rep. Schmoe told The Kansas Constitutional via email. “What it does is restrict avenues of infringement, now, and for generations to come, saving a substantial amount of time and taxpayer money spent in legislation and litigation.”

Rep. Schmoe has also been putting in the work to help people learn about this new amendment. On Saturday, a ‘2024 Kansas Legislative Session 2A Kick Off’ was hosted at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library where she, along with other pro-Second Amendment advocates, helped inform the public on the amendment. She also did a segment on Armed American Radio speaking on the amendment and a twenty-minute episode on The Kansas Briefing with Speaker Pro Tempore Blake Carpenter (R-Sedgwick County). She also did an interview with Andy Hooser on The Voice of Reason.

On social media, Rep. Schmoe has been urging Kansans to contact their legislators to support the amendment. She shared a short clip from her interview with Hooser, writing,

“Kansans, contact your legislators today and urge them to support this bill. Kansas voters do not need gatekeepers. We are fully capable of deciding what is included within our state constitution. Put this clarification language on the General Election Ballot and allow us to vote on it ourselves.”

In the clip, she also explains the amendment.

“We already have a provision in the Kansas Constitution that protects gun rights for all of us responsible gunowners,” Rep. Schmoe said in the interview. “What it doesn’t say is what we’re trying to address. We are trying to address the fact that we continuously get attacked and we are looking at other states across the nation that are getting attacked on the regular over ammunition, over accessories and firearms components.”

Rep. Schmoe stated in the interview that the language would make it so that “everybody across the board understands what all is already included in our already established rights to keep and bear arms.”

In support of this amendment, the Kansas State Rifle Association posted on social media the following statement,

“For anyone who thinks adding ammunition protections to our State Constitution is overkill, the attacks on ammunition are already happening elsewhere. The threats are real and the time to secure our freedoms in Kansas is NOW!”

They also thanked Speaker Pro Tempore Blake Carpenter, Sen. J.R. Claeys (R), Speaker Dan Hawkins (R), Senate President Ty Masterson (R), Majority Leader Rep. Chris Croft (R), and Majority Leader Sen. Larry Alley (R) for “committing to advance the crucial state constitutional amendment.”

Last Thursday, Democrats in the state of Washington proposed an 11 percent sales tax on ammunition purchases along with additional barriers for purchasing ammo, referring to ammunition as a “privilege.”

A couple months back in early November, Democrats in both chambers of Congress proposed new legislation called the Ammunition Modernization and Monitoring Oversight (AMMO) Act. The Act is meant to “prevent the bulk sale of ammunition, promote recordkeeping and reporting about ammunition, end ammunition straw purchasing, and require a background check before the transfer of ammunition by certain Federal firearms licensees to non-licensees.”

Currently, Section Four of the Kansas Bill of Rights states,

“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; 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.”

However, should Kansans be able to vote on the amendment, it is likely that we will see this change for further security of our Second Amendment rights.