By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told Gov. Sam Brownback that a new Kansas law that criminalizes federal enforcement of gun laws was unconstitutional.
Holder also warned that the federal government “will take all appropriate action including litigation if necessary, to prevent the State of Kansas from interfering with the activities of federal officials enforcing federal law.”
The dispute is over Senate Bill 102, which Brownback signed into law last month. The Second Amendment Protection Act excludes from federal regulation any gun made or owned in Kansas.
It will allow law enforcement in Kansas to charge and convict federal authorities with crimes if they try to enforce action against a Kansas-protected gun.
Holder said in a letter to Brownback, “In purporting to override federal law and to criminalize the official acts of federal officers S.B. 102 directly conflicts with federal law and is therefore unconstitutional.”
Holder said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas would continue to enforce federal firearms laws and regulations.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
AG Schmidt asks US Supreme Court to favor Second Amendment rights
News Release
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has joined attorneys general from 19 other states in asking the US Supreme Court to affirm the Second Amendment rights of citizens who wish to lawfully carry concealed handguns outside their homes.
They attorneys general have asked the Supreme Court to review a lower federal court’s ruling that had upheld the authority of a state to limit the right to keep and bear arms to an individual’s home and also had allowed states to require that a permit application show a reason the permit is needed.
“The Second Amendment clearly protects the rights of our citizens to keep and bear arms, and in 2010 Kansas voters made clear their view that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right,” Schmidt said. “Legally permitted concealed carry of handguns falls within that right and the Supreme Court should affirm that. This is an opportunity for the Supreme Court to clarify its recent decisions in favor of Second Amendment rights.”
The pending case is Kachalsky v. Cacaces.
The states petitioning the US Supreme Court include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has joined attorneys general from 19 other states in asking the US Supreme Court to affirm the Second Amendment rights of citizens who wish to lawfully carry concealed handguns outside their homes.
They attorneys general have asked the Supreme Court to review a lower federal court’s ruling that had upheld the authority of a state to limit the right to keep and bear arms to an individual’s home and also had allowed states to require that a permit application show a reason the permit is needed.
“The Second Amendment clearly protects the rights of our citizens to keep and bear arms, and in 2010 Kansas voters made clear their view that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right,” Schmidt said. “Legally permitted concealed carry of handguns falls within that right and the Supreme Court should affirm that. This is an opportunity for the Supreme Court to clarify its recent decisions in favor of Second Amendment rights.”
The pending case is Kachalsky v. Cacaces.
The states petitioning the US Supreme Court include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
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