The Senate endorsed a sweeping bill Tuesday limiting authority of local governments to require employees to disclose if they hold a concealed-handgun permit and abolishing power of cities or counties to spend tax dollars on gun buy-back programs.
Legislation scheduled for a final vote Wednesday would require elimination of all city or county regulations, ordinances or policies regulating the open carrying of firearms. The bill would allow municipal governments to post signs on buildings to ban open carry of weapons, but violators would face no criminal sanction for ignoring the signs.
The Senate bill also would make it a misdemeanor to operate, possess or carry any firearm — not just a concealed handgun — while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“Local control in many instances is best,” said Sen. Clark Shultz, a McPherson Republican who carried the bill during Senate floor debate. “In this case, we’re talking about a fundamental right to bear arms.”
However, Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, said the bill brought by Shultz ignored an idea commonly expressed by Republicans and Democrats in the Capitol that government closest to the people was preferable.
“Time and time and time again we move to take local decisions out of the hands of local government,” he said.
Under Senate Bill 447, municipal employees could refuse to disclose to employers whether they possessed a concealed-carry license. The measure would ban disciplinary action against a worker who declined to answer questions from employers on the subject. All city or county governments would be blocked from creating records on concealed-carry licensees and would have to destroy any documents already created.
Lobbyists of the National Rifle Association and Kansas State Rifle Association urged senators not to amend the bill, said Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, R-Grinnell.
[ … ]Pettey said it would cost an estimated $21.9 million for 350 public libraries to comply with the state security law adopted in 2013 by the Legislature and Gov. Sam Brownback. Many of these facilities can’t afford security upgrades and will eventually open doors to people carrying hidden firearms, she said.
“Our libraries are gathering places in our communities,” she said.
Sens. Forrest Knox, an Altoona Republican and leading proponent of conceal-carry rights in Kansas, objected to Pettey’s amendment. He said watering down current rights of people to carry guns in public buildings would undermine the safety of all employees and patrons
“This has a lot to do with the bill we passed last year,” Knox said. “Criminals can carry into the buildings. Law-abiding citizens cannot.”
