Fresh off a series of legislative victories across the country, the National Rifle Association has launched a new effort starting in gun-friendly Kansas seeking to clamp down on the use of government money to lobby on gun-control issues.
While it’s not clear how the law would be enforced, considering it includes no penalties for violators, critics argue the measure threatens to stifle debate and give the state government far more control over a local government’s message.
For instance, would university presidents — now confronted with a new Kansas law to allow concealed weapons on campuses — be able to travel on university time and salary to argue against the rule? Or, could a government agency even print a pamphlet about gun safety without running afoul of the law?
“It does raise these questions about one side or the other becoming so dominant that it can close off opposing views,” said Gene Policinski, senior vice president for the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, based at Vanderbilt University.
The Kansas law that takes effect next month also prohibits the use of state dollars for “publicity or propaganda,” distributing materials or advertising. Although it imposes the same restrictions on both sides of the debate, gun-rights advocates pressed so much for it in the recently concluded legislative session that it was known inside the Statehouse as “the NRA bill.”
For the NRA and other gun-rights advocates, the lobbying law is a good-government measure that prevents precious state dollars from being put to political use and another symbol of Kansas’ commitment to gun-ownership rights.
“People are going to look to Kansas,” said Brent Gardner, an NRA liaison who lobbies in four states, including Kansas. “People are starting to see a number of states becoming leaders in firearms rights.”
Gardner said Kansas is the first state to enact a law restricting the use of state dollars on lobbying or other forms of advocacy specifically on gun-control issues, though legislators in Arizona and Wisconsin also have expressed an interest.
The National Conference of State Legislatures hadn’t heard of activity on the topic, and the idea is so novel that even the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said it didn’t know enough about the law to comment on it.
The immediate effect of the law is unclear, particularly considering conservatives encountered little resistance this year in pushing through the Legislature two measures broadly expanding the rights of gun owners.
One loosens the restrictions on permit holders for carrying concealed guns into local government and state-run college buildings. The other flatly declares the federal government has no power to regulate firearms, ammunition and accessories manufactured, sold and kept in the state.
In the city of Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas, officials are frustrated over the concealed weapons law, and Mayor Mike Dever said the lobbying restriction could hamper local officials who want to change state or federal policies.
“It kinds of creates an interesting dilemma for local government agencies, when they feel strongly about something and have to be careful,” Dever said.
The western Kansas town of Hays has its own lobbyist in the Kansas Statehouse. Although Mayor Kent Steward said he isn’t particularly troubled by the new gun laws, he is concerned about the precedent it sends if the state government can restrict a local government’s lobbying on a divisive issue.
“Any time government starts getting into the area of limiting speech, it sends up a red flag,” he said. ” … The best course may be, if you find one thing that’s distasteful, you may do better to put up with it.”
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