Latest news with #SenateBill137
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kansas firearm legislation centers on law enforcement while violence prevention falls behind
Shannon Little appears for a March 24, 2025, recording of the Kansas Reflector podcast. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Firearms legislation in Kansas took a backseat during the 2025 legislative session to tax relief and election debates, but advocates and legislators who see room for improvement in Kansas' gun laws are hopeful bills addressing suicide prevention and child safety will be addressed next year. The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 988. Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. To speak with a trained listener, text HELLO to 741741. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential. For the past three sessions, the gun violence prevention advocacy organization Moms Demand Action has supported a bill bolstering efforts to prevent children from accessing firearms. House Bill 2167 would require guns and stun guns to be locked in storage containers, and it would create a crime for failure to properly store a weapon where a child has access. Penalties would be greater for firearms with large-capacity magazines. Shannon Little, the leader of the Kansas chapter of Moms Demand Action, said on the Kansas Reflector podcast that Kansas' firearm laws are some of the weakest in the nation. The organization's safe storage bill was referred to the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, where rules allow anything introduced in an odd-numbered year to be brought up again the following session. The bill would penalize someone if an improperly stored firearm is used in a shooting. 'It would incentivize gun owners to responsibly store their firearms, and would definitely put the responsibility on secure firearm storage on adults and not kids,' she said. At least two pieces of firearms legislation arrived on the governor's desk Friday. Both have to do with law enforcement. House Bill 2052 broadens the concealed carry limitations for off-duty officers. Senate Bill 137 allows law enforcement agencies to sell or give firearms that were confiscated through civil asset forfeiture to licensed gun dealers. The governor could sign or veto those bills, and the Legislature could try to override a veto. Little also highlighted House Bill 2379, a proposal from Merriam Democrat Jarrod Ousley called the 'voluntary do-not-sell firearms list' act. Its essence is suicide prevention, Little said. Kansas has a higher firearm death rate than the national average, and suicides made up 67% of gun deaths in the state in 2023, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The voluntary do-not-sell act would create an avenue for people to fill out paperwork to put themselves on a list that would prevent them from purchasing firearms. That paperwork would be available through health care providers and online. Some kinks in the bill need to be ironed out, Ousley said, but he is operating within the parameters he's politically allowed in Kansas instead of proposing a stricter red flag law, which exists in other states. Red flag laws, or extreme risk protection orders, allow authorities to temporarily seize someone's firearms if they pose a risk to themselves or others. The provisions in Ousley's bill make it so that any relinquishment of a firearm is completely voluntary. 'So it's not infringing on their Second Amendment rights, aside from the safety precautions that they want to take on themselves,' she said. The bill exists on a spectrum of prevention efforts, Little said. Even further down on the spectrum are nonpolicy efforts, such as asking a friend or family member to keep one's firearms, that can be just as effective, she said. The thinking behind HB 2379, Little said, is to keep politics out of safety situations. 'I think it's easier to start at the end of the spectrum that can do a lot of good (and) that the most people can agree on and, hopefully, get something really good passed,' she said. The bill had a hearing March 13, during which several people told personal stories about loved ones or themselves. Some remembered loved ones who died by suicide. Many had purchased a firearm days — or even minutes — before they died. Some described their mental health struggles, stating they'd like to be able to sign up for a list like the one Ousley proposed. 'Six people in that room would have signed up that day,' Ousley said. And, he said, he knows of more.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kansas police could sell, give away guns seized without criminal convictions under Senate bill
Sen. Stephen Owens, pictured on Jan. 13, 2025, at his desk in the Senate, voiced support for a bill that would let police sell or give away the firearms seized through civil asset forfeiture. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — The Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would expand Kansas law enforcement officers' options for confiscated firearms. Under current law, agencies can sell or give away the guns they seize when someone is convicted of a crime, but under civil asset forfeiture, which doesn't require a conviction, selling firearms or giving them away are not available options. When police seize a gun through civil forfeiture, agencies currently have four options: destroy it, use it, give it to another agency to use or send it to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's forensic lab. Senate Bill 137 would allow police to sell or give guns seized through civil forfeiture to any of the more than 1,200 licensed federal firearms dealers in the state. Sen. Stephen Owens, a Hesston Republican and former owner of Patriot Pawn and Firearms in Newton, introduced the bill in January after he said he received a call from the Harvey County Sheriff, who told Owens that state law was inconsistent. Owens spoke in support of the bill at a Feb. 11 Senate hearing and again on Wednesday when the Senate debated the bill. 'All that this bill is doing is bringing the civil asset forfeiture code in compliance with law that already exists,' Owens said Wednesday. Civil asset forfeiture has been criticized as a method for furthering 'profit-based policing,' a notion voiced by former Rep. Gail Finney, a Wichita Democrat who served in the Legislature for 13 years before her death in 2022. Finney pushed for comprehensive reform of Kansas' decades-old civil forfeiture laws, arguing they ran the risk of violating constitutional rights. That reform finally came in 2024 with Senate Bill 458. While civil forfeiture doesn't require a criminal conviction, it does require the government to show by a preponderance of evidence that the property in question was used in illegal activity. Vehicles and currency make up the bulk of seized assets in Kansas, according to data from the KBI. Megan Hillbish, a lobbyist for the Kansas State Rifle Association, wrote in testimony that the process of properly and legally destroying firearms can be costly and time-consuming for law enforcement agencies. 'This bill would allow law enforcement agencies to instead have the opportunity to make money from transferring the firearms to properly licensed federal firearms dealers,' Hillbish wrote. 'This could help offset costs and incentivize firearms being used in responsible manners.' The bill also drew support from the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, the Kansas Sheriffs Association and the Kansas Peace Officers Association. 'This consistency makes sense,' said Ed Klumpp, a lobbyist for the three law enforcement associations, in written testimony. No opponents testified on the bill, but Sen. Patrick Schmidt, a Topeka Democrat, challenged the bill Wednesday on the Senate floor with an amendment that would only allow police to sell firearms at public auctions. He said the change would help alleviate his concerns about transparency in how police unload the firearms. 'I think that as 137 is written right now, it does create significant loopholes and perverse interests that we don't want happening surrounding the transfer or sale of weapons, especially those that have possibly been used in furtherance of a crime,' Schmidt said. The amendment failed, and every Senator but Schmidt voted Thursday to advance the bill to the House.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Two education bills pass through first committee
Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces) proposes a bill to require university regents complete 10 hours of training within six months of being appointed. The Senate Education Committee advanced a bill Friday morning that would require new university regents to complete training within months of their appointment. Senate Bill 19, presented by cosponsor Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces), was given a do-pass by the Senate Education Committee on an 8-0 vote. The bill would require new university and special school regents and members of governing boards of community colleges complete 10 hours of training within six months of being appointed. 'Our university regents have very important jobs. They hire university presidents, they set tuition, they set priorities, they decide on infrastructure, they really chart the direction and run a university and sadly, we have no qualifications for regents who are selected,' Steinborn said to the committee. 'I think we owe it to our universities and our kids and taxpayers that we have the best regents we can get and that they're trained.' Steinborn added that the bill is modeled after Senate Bill 137, presented and signed into law during the 2024 Legislative Session, which requires school board members to complete 10 hours of mandatory training during their first year of serving on the board. Cedric Page, professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos and regent for the New Mexico Military Institute, spoke in favor of the bill, saying the training will ensure regents 'really understand the leadership responsibilities' involved in the position. The bill will be heard next by the Senate Rules Committee. Senate Bill 13, the State-Tribal Education Compact Schools Act, was also passed through the Senate Education Committee Friday morning by a vote of 9-0. Speakers from Taos, Acoma, Isleta, Ohkay Owingeh, San Felipe, Zuni, Jemez and Santa Ana pueblos spoke on its behalf, as did representatives from the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, Public Charter Schools of New Mexico, Transform Education NM and NM Native Vote. The proposal would make it possible for Native tribes and nations to enter into compacts with the Public Education Department to establish cultural schools where young students start their educational careers fully immersed in their Native language. Bill sponsor Sen. Benny Shendo (D-Jemez Pueblo) previously told Source NM that the goal of the bill is to help preserve Native languages in New Mexico. 'Language is not only a tool for communication, it is the foundation of identity, culture and self determination. Senate bill (13) takes a significant step towards addressing these systemic inequities by creating these compact schools, which will provide tribes with greater autonomy to design and implement educational models that our students called for,' Loretta Trujillo, executive director of Transform Education NM, said during the meeting. State lawmaker proposes bill to create cultural schools to preserve Native languages Committee member Sen. Anthony Thornton (R-Albuquerque), however, voiced concern over the possible 'vulcanization' of the state's school system. 'If I were to replace all the language in this (bill) with African-American students, then we were to create our separate schools and then some German-Americans decided they wanted the same thing and they had the same sort of thing. My concern here, and I know this is sort of way off the, pardon my pun, off the reservation, but the question I'm having is understanding the needs. My concern is that this separates the schoolchildren or the children in your community possibly from the rest of society. And then how does that, how do they overcome that going forward?' Thornton asked. Bill sponsor Sen. Benny Shendo (D-Jemez Pueblo) used himself as an example, as someone who grew up only speaking Jemez. 'I was born and raised in Jemez, didn't speak a word of English and here I am with you today,' Shendo said. SB 13 will be heard next by the Senate Judiciary Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
