Legislators seek gun amendment
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By The Associated Press
March 25, 2009
Voters may get to decide next year whether Kansas should amend its constitution to clarify that the right to bear arms is an individual right, not a collective right.
The Senate voted 39-1 Tuesday for a resolution to place the issue on the November 2010 general election ballot. The measure goes to the House, which set aside a similar resolution to await the Senate version.
Supporters said the effort was a response to a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision that says the federal Constitution's Second Amendment grants individuals the right to bear arms. The 5-4 ruling settled a dispute over the gun laws in the District of Columbia.
The Kansas Constitution says: "The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security."
But a 1905 Kansas Supreme Court decision says it's a collective, not an individual, right. The proposed amendment would give the right to each person. The 1905 case involved a shooting in Salina, where the justices ruled that only militias or military had the right to own and bear arms.
"It is very critical because we do not want to wait on the judiciary to change its mind or make the kind of decision that it did in 1905," said Sen. Tim Huelskamp, a Fowler Republican.
