TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The Latest on the Kansas Legislature’s debate on gun issues (all times local):
7:35 p.m.
The Kansas Senate has approved two relatively narrow gun bills after rejecting numerous gun-control proposals during a lengthy debate.
The vote Thursday was 25-15 on a bill clarifying rules for allowing people with permits to carry concealed guns in other states to carry concealed in Kansas.
Senators voted 40-0 to pass a bill making it a felony under state law for anyone convicted of domestic violence to possess a firearm within five years of a conviction. The change would allow prosecutions in state courts rather than federal courts that may not have time for them.
The House passed both bills last month but must consider Senate changes.
Senators debated but rejected proposals to ban the use of bump stocks and impose a three-day waiting period for gun purchases.
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6:35 p.m.
The Kansas Senate has rejected a proposal to impose a three-day waiting period before people can buy guns.
The vote Thursday was 23-17 against the measure. It was offered by Democratic Sen. Pat Pettey of Kansas City as an amendment to a bill sought by the attorney general to clarify rules for allowing people with permits to carry concealed guns in other states to carry concealed in Kansas.
Pettey saw the waiting period as a way to prevent suicides and gun violence. But Republican Sen. Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth suggested it would prevent abuse victims from protecting themselves.
The Senate also voted 27-13 against an amendment from Democratic Sen. Tom Holland of Baldwin City to increase the age for buying a rifle from 18 to 21.
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4:15 p.m.
Kansas legislators have narrowly rejected a proposal to make it illegal to use bump stocks to make semi-automatic rifles mimic fully automatic ones.
The vote Thursday in the state Senate was 20-20. It came on a proposed amendment to a bill sought by the state’s attorney general to clarify rules for allowing people who have permits to carry concealed weapons in other states to carry concealed while in Kansas.
Senators also were debating another amendment to allow someone to go to court to get guns removed from a family member’s home if they believe the family member is a danger to themselves or others.
The Senate’s debate came after it gave first-round approval to a bill designed to keep guns out of the hands of fugitives and domestic abusers.
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3:25 p.m.
Kansas legislators are debating a bill designed to keep guns out of the hands of fugitives and domestic abusers and could consider other gun issues.
The Senate planned to take a final vote Thursday on the measure. The bill would make it a felony under state law for anyone convicted of domestic violence to possess a firearm within five years of conviction. It would also be illegal for fugitives to possess guns.
But senators expected to take up other gun proposals as well during their debate.
It already is a crime under federal law for domestic abusers to have guns. But supporters of the bill say federal courts and prosecutors are often too busy to handle such cases and a separate state law would allow prosecutions in state courts.
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