Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2013-013

August 1, 2013
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 2013-13
Michael R. Santos
City Attorney, Overland Park
8500 Santa Fe Drive
Overland Park, KS 66212
Re: 	Cities 	and 	Municipalities—Miscellaneous 	Provisions—Firearms 	and
Ammunition; Regulation by City or County; Limitations
Synopsis: 	A city ordinance banning the open carry of firearms by all persons except
those in possession of a valid state-issued concealed carry license would
be pre-empted by state law. Cited herein: K.S.A. 2010 Supp 12-16,124;
K.S.A. 2011 Supp 12-16,124; K.S.A. 2012 Supp 12-16,124, as amended
by L. 2013, Ch. 36, § 1; 21-6301; 21-6304, as amended by L. 2013, Ch.
36, § 2; 21-6309; 75-7c04, as amended by L. 2013, Ch. 36, § 5; 75-7c10,
as amended by L. 2013, Ch. 105, § 9.
* 	* 	*
Dear Mr. Santos:
As Overland Park City Attorney, you ask our opinion regarding the ability of cities to
regulate the manner of openly carrying firearms. In your letter, you state that the City of
Overland Park repealed its ordinance banning the open carry of firearms within city
limits based upon Attorney General Opinion No. 2011-24. You further state that since
the repeal of that ordinance, members of the public have expressed concern regarding
the open carry of firearms. According to your letter, the City of Overland Park is
considering further regulating the open carry of firearms.
You ask the following question:

Michael Santos
Page 2
Does Kansas law permit a city to adopt an ordinance that prohibits a person from
openly carrying a firearm within the city unless that person possesses a state license
to carry a concealed firearm issued pursuant to the Personal and Family Protection
Act?1
Your question pertains to K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 12-16,124, as amended by L. 2013, Ch.
36, § 1, which states in relevant part:
(a) No city or county shall adopt any ordinance, resolution or regulation, and
no agent of any city or county shall take any administrative action,
governing the purchase, transfer, ownership, storage or transporting of
firearms or ammunition, or any component or combination thereof. Except
as provided in subsection (b) of this section and subsection (b) of K.S.A.
75-7c10, and amendments thereto, any such ordinance, resolution or
regulation adopted prior to the effective date of this 2007 act shall be null
and void.
(b) Nothing in this section shall:
…
(2) prohibit a city or county from regulating the manner of openly carrying a
loaded firearm on one’s 	person; or in the immediate control of a person,
not licensed or recognized under the personal and family protection act
while on property open to the public.
To answer your question, it is helpful to revisit our previous opinions that analyzed this
statute.2 In Attorney General Opinion No. 2012-2, we opined that “by enacting the broad
preemptive language in K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 12-16,124(a), the Kansas Legislature has
clearly manifested its intent to occupy the field of regulating the purchase, transfer,
ownership, storage or transporting of firearms or ammunition.” As such, any local
ordinance that regulates the purchase, transfer, ownership, storage or transporting of
firearms or ammunition is preempted by state law unless such regulation falls within an
exception to K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 12-16,124(a), as amended by L. 2013, Ch. 36, § 1.
In Attorney General Opinion No. 2011-06, we opined that K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 12-
16,124(b) creates specific exceptions to the general rule of preemption of local authority
to regulate firearms found in K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 12-16,124(a). We further opined that if
a factual circumstance does not fall within one of the exception categories of K.S.A.
2010 Supp. 12-16,124(b), then the local firearms regulation is preempted. Based upon
the plain language of K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 12-16,124(b)(2), we concluded that the statute
1 K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 75-7c01 et seq.
2 Although our previous opinions refer to different volumes of the K.S.A. Supplement, the statute in
question has not been amended in a manner that would alter our previous analyses. Accordingly, our
analysis of K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 12-16,124 and K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 12-16,124 is still applicable to K.S.A.
2012 Supp. 12-16,124, as amended by L. 2013, Ch. 36, § 1.

Michael Santos
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allows a municipality to regulate the manner of openly carrying a loaded firearm on
one’s person, regardless of whether that person holds a concealed carry license.
In Attorney General Opinion No. 2011-24, we opined that K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 12-
16,124(b)(2) does not allow a city to completely ban the open carry of loaded firearms
on property open to the public, but instead allows a city to regulate “the manner of” open
carry of loaded firearms. We further opined that “the manner of” openly carrying a
firearm means the “way, mode or method” of open carry.
We now turn to your question, whether a city may require persons who wish to openly
carry firearms to have in their possession a state-issued concealed carry license.
We note at the outset that K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 12-16,124(b)(2), as amended by L. 2013,
Ch. 36, § 1, allows a municipality to regulate “the manner of openly carrying a loaded
firearm on one’s person . . . .”3 As we opined in Attorney General Opinion No. 2011-06,
factual circumstances that fall outside the categories of exceptions in K.S.A. 2012 Supp.
12-16,124(b), as amended by L. 2013, Ch. 36, § 1, are preempted by the broad
language found in K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 12-16,124(a), as amended by L. 2013, Ch. 36, §
1. In the case of the open carry of firearms, K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 12-16,124(b)(2), as
amended by L. 2013, Ch. 36, § 1, is silent on the open carry of unloaded firearms.
Therefore, a city may not regulate the open carry of unloaded firearms by holders or
non-holders of concealed carry licenses.
However, a city may regulate “the manner of” openly carrying a loaded firearm on one’s
person. As noted in Attorney General Opinion No. 2011-24, an ordinary definition of
“manner” is “way, mode or method.” Other ordinary definitions include “a mode of
procedure or way of acting” 4 and “mode of action; way of performing or effecting
anything; method; style; form; fashion.” 5 In Attorney General Opinion No. 2011-24 we
opined that examples of regulating the manner of openly carrying a firearm include “a
regulation requiring firearms to be secured in a holster, requiring openly carried firearms
to have the safety on, and requiring an individual openly carrying a firearm to maintain
control of the firearm at all times.”
Thus, the question is whether the phrase “the manner of openly carrying a loaded
firearm on one’s person” includes the possession of a valid state-issued concealed
carry license. In our opinion, that phrase refers to methods or procedures for physically
securing and safely carrying a loaded firearm on one’s person. For example, a city
could prohibit the open carry of a loaded firearm in a person’s waistband. We do not
believe “the manner of openly carrying a loaded firearm” can be reasonably interpreted
to include the possession of a concealed carry license, a driver’s license, or any other
document, because possession of a document does not affect the way, mode or
method of securing and safely carrying a loaded firearm on one’s person.
3 Emphasis added.
4 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manner.
5 http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/manner.

Michael Santos
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An ordinance that restricts the open carry of firearms to those individuals who have in
their possession a state-issued concealed carry license serves to limit who may openly
carry a loaded firearm, but does not regulate the way, mode or method of openly
carrying a loaded firearm. In our opinion, this type of ordinance would be a form of
“governing the . . . transport of firearms or ammunition” that is preempted by K.S.A.
2012 Supp. 12-16,124(a), as amended by L. 2013, Ch. 36, § 1. The state has occupied
the field of regulation in this area.
In light of the foregoing, we decline to answer your remaining questions regarding a
theoretical city ordinance requiring persons openly carrying a firearm to possess a
concealed carry license.
Sincerely,
Derek Schmidt
Attorney General
Sarah Fertig
Assistant Attorney General
DS:AA:SF:sb