Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Kansas Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_22-2009_03_28.shtml#1238042014
The Kansas House and Senate have just put on the November 2010 ballot
[1]a proposed Kansas right to bear arms constitutional amendment that
would read,
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.
The current text, "The people have the right to bear arms for their
defense and security," has been read as not securing an individual
right in City of Salina v. Blaksley, 83 P. 619 (Kan. 1905), which was
adhered to by City of Junction City v. Lee, 532 P.2d 1292 (Kan. 1975).
City of Junction City v. Mevis, 601 P.2d 1145, 1151 (Kan. 1979),
struck down a gun control law, challenged by an individual citizen, on
the grounds that the law was �unconstitutionally overbroad�; this
probably involves an implicit conclusion that the right does indeed
belong to individual citizens (which is especially sensible given that
a provision in a state Bill of Rights can't very well belong to the
state itself, or some state-defined body). But at the very least the
current status of the right to bear arms in Kansas is unclear; the new
proposal would resolve that.
The votes were 39-1 in the Senate and 116-9 in the House. I would
expect a vote comparable to the 74%-26% on the last such state right
to bear arms amendment, in Wisconsin in 1998. The text of the
amendment, by the way, closely follows a [2]modern trend, as
exemplified by New Mexico (1971), Nevada (1982), North Dakota (1984),
Utah (1984, slightly different), West Virginia (1986), Delaware
(1987), Nebraska (1988), and Wisconsin (1998).
As I discuss in my [3]state constitutional right to bear arms article,
an individual right to bear arms to self-defense is expressly secured
(either by the text or by court interpretation of the text) by the
constitutions of 40 states. The matter is not resolved in two states,
Hawaii and Virginia. The provisions in two states, Kansas (not for
long now) Kansas and Massachusetts, have been interpreted as securing
only a collective right, whatever that might mean under a state
constitution. And six state constitutions, those of California, Iowa,
Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York, don't mention a right
to bear arms. I'm surprised that Iowa and Minnesota gun rights
supporters haven't gotten similar provisions put on the ballots in
those states, since I take it that they'd surely pass there.
Thanks to [4]KSC Blog for the pointer.
References
1. http://www.kslegislature.org/supplemental/2010/SN1611.pdf
2. http://www.trolp.org/main_pgs/issues/v11n1/Volokh.pdf
3. http://www.trolp.org/main_pgs/issues/v11n1/Volokh.pdf
4.
http://kscblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/constitutional-amendment-would-overrule-court-decision/
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