Kansas Thinks It Needs Its Own Second Amendment

Never mind that the Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment (and the entire Bill of Rights, for that matter) applies to the states. State Senators Mike Petersen and Tim Huelskamp don’t think that’s enough. They are sponsoring “The Kansas Right to Bear Arms Question,” aka “Constitutional Amendment 1,” whichwill appear on the ballot November 2. This measure would give residents of the state “the right to bear arms.”  Last time I checked, that right already exists, but that apparently is not enough for gun nuts.

For example, Patricia Stoneking who runs the Kansas State Rifle Association and owns the Bullet Hole Shooting Range says, “We have the right to put limits on our government, and that’s what [the right to bear arms] does.” Paul Helmke from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sees this as absurd.

Helmke also says he gets “nervous” when gun advocates “talk about taking up arms against the government.” He explained, “When someone thinks that they, on their own, can decide that somehow the government is tyrannical and that they can start a revolution, start a civil war, then we’re not following the process that our founding fathers set up.”

Stoneking disagrees claiming that’s exactly what the founding fathers intended. “They knew government could become tyrannical,” she said. “We have the right to defend ourselves from a rogue government.”

It’s unclear what rights Stoneking believes the Kansas initiative would give her that don’t already exist.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.